
Class 



TT ? 



Book 






- 



Copyright^ . 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



cAichitectural 

Hardwood 

Finishing 



A Practical Treatise on Modern 
Methods of Finishing the Wood 
Work of New Buildings 

by George Whigelt 



THE PAINTERS Al A U A Z I N E 
100 WILLIAM ST., N. Y 

19 6 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Varnishing. 

page fifty -one. 

CHAPTER IX. 

Rubbing and Polishing. 

page sixty. 

CHAPTER X. 

Wax Finishing. 

page sixty-eight. 

CHAPTER XI. 

Floor Finishing, 
page seventy-three. 

CHAPTER XII. 

Finishing of Fireproof ed Wood. 

page seventy-seven. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Re-finishing, 
page eighty-three. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Piano Finishing, 
page ninety-seven. 

CHAPTER XV. 

Best Methods of Using Water Stains, 
page one hundred and three. 



PREFACE. 

The series of articles which is here 
republished in book form was printed 
in the twelve issues of The Painters 
Magazine for 1905. They were written 
by a practical mechanic, who has had 
more than twenty years' experience 
in all classes of hardwood finishing and 
who has invented a number of valu- 
able materials and processes. Two 
articles on kindred subjects, Piano 
Finishing and Best Methods of Using 
Water Stains, which also appeared in 
The Painters Magazine, have been 
added to make the work more com- 
plete. The publishers trust that this 
book may prove an acceptable addition 
to the library of the practical painter, 
the architect and every one interested 
in architectural hardwood finishing. 

New York, January, 1906. 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 




ODERN methods of wood 
finishing in new buildings 
will be described in this 
book, the subject being 
treated from the standpoint of the 
practical wood finisher engaged in all 
grades of work in modern buildings. 
At the risk of telling something al- 
ready known to the experienced wood 
finisher, every branch of the work will 
be thoroughly described in all its de- 
tails, in order to make the entire sub- 
ject of hardwood finishing perfectly 
plain to even the most inexperienced 
finisher. We must also remember the 
necessity of every one connected with 
the painting business of knowing the 
proper treatment of hardwood. The 
wants of even the most experienced 
finisher will not be forgotten, and many 
suggestions will be given to practical 
painters for up-to-date work and all 
the new methods will be described 
with which the writer has become ac- 
quainted in twenty years' experience 
in that line. 

page seven 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 



CHAPTER I. 

Woods Used. 

f . *vHE woods most commonly used 
V] p^ at present for the trim and 

1 1 floors of buildings which re- 

^^ quire a natural finish are oak, 
ash, walnut, mahogany,, birch, cherry, 
maple, redwood, cypress, sycamore, 
pine, whitewood, rosewood, and a 
number of others. 

They are divided again into hard 
and soft woods, — open pored and close 
grained woods, — and each of them re- 
quire a different preparation and finish 
to suit the taste and style and to con- 
form with the nature of the wood. 
Each kind of wood has its own natural 
beauty and the main object of the fin- 
isher should be not only to make a su- 
perb finish and to preserve the wood, 
but to improve and develop its natural 
grain and beauty. The most expensive 
wood will look cheap if not finished 
properly and a more common wood 
will look beautiful if rightly treated. 

Oak is classified first by the manner 
in which the boards are sawed into 
straight and cross-cut, or quartered oak 
and again into white, red and dark 
oak. 

page eight 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

Ash is generally of but one grade 
and is often used for framing oak 
panels, as it is less expensive than the 
former, except the Hungarian ash, a 
beautiful variety. 

Walnut has a number of grades and 
nearly every climatic condition pro- 
duces its own and peculiar species, 
some being of very great value. We 
have the straight American walnut, the 
French walnut, used for panels and cut 
from the root of the tree ; also the 
South Russian or curly walnut, which 
is a softer kind, but very rare and ex- 
pensive. 

Mahogany is obtained in endless va- 
rieties, including prima vera or white 
mahogany. Much of the wood sold as 
mahogany is cut in the United States, 
but the more valuable kinds come from 
San Domingo, Central and South 
America. 

Birch is divided into straight and 
curly, and, like cherry, is an American 
wood. 

Maple is known for its whiteness 
and hardness, and is generally used for 
floors, with the exception of the bird's- 
eye maple, which is used for paneling 
and requires great care in finishing. 

Redwood, especially that coming 
from California, is a wood resembling 
mahogany in many of its characteris- 
tics. 

page nine 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

Sycamore is exceptionally hard, and 
the cross-cut or quartered produces 
wonderfully beautiful effects. 

Cypress is in a class by itself. It is 
related to the cedar, very tough and 
durable, and, on account of its long 
fibers, it is very troublesome for the 
finisher. 

Rosewood has been abandoned on 
account of its scarcity. Its oily nature 
has made it difficult for the best fin- 
isher using the best material to pro- 
duce perfectly satisfactory results. 

"Whitewood, or poplar, is not often 
finished in natural, and curly poplar 
has been very seldom used because its 
value is overlooked. 

Pine has received the greatest atten- 
tion and is used in endless varieties 
and for almost all possible and impos- 
sible purposes. It is divided into hard 
and soft, white and yellow, straight 
and curly pine. 

White pine of good quality has be- 
come very scarce and is now more ex- 
pensive than oak, but is largely used 
for doors. 

Yellow pine serves for all purposes 
and the Georgia variety is largely used 
for floors. North Carolina pine is of 
a curly nature and produces very good 
results in the hands of the experienced 
finisher. 

page ten 




ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

CHAPTER II. 

Sandpapering, Scraping and Preparing 
the Wood. 

LTHOUGH the most essential 
point in producing a good fin- 
ish, sandpapering, scraping 
and preparing the wood is 
generally overlooked, but it is of the 
utmost importance and cannot be too 
carefully done. Only a perfectly 
smooth surface can retain a good last- 
ing efTect and such a surface will less- 
en the work more than a good many 
will admit. An uneven surface show- 
ing plane marks must be scraped, 
which can be done with a number of 
different tools, of which the plain scrap- 
er is always the best. It consists of a 
piece of hardened steel about 2 by 5 
inches in size, the long edges of which 
are evenly ground. Considerable ex- 
perience is required in sharpening, 
which is done by pressing a round 
piece of steel against the edges, slight- 
ly bending them over to form a cutting 
angle. This round piece of steel is 
drawn along the edge until the proper 
effect is produced. Resharpening is 
generally done with a good steel file, 
but is better done on a flat oil stone. 
Other scrapers in all different shapes 
are used to suit the needed require- 

page eleven 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

ments. Their quality may be deter- 
mined by the length of time they will 
last without resharpening. 

Sandpapering. 

Common sense, skill and experience 
will tell the finisher what grade of fine- 
ness in sandpaper is required to do the 
work. Always be careful to rub with 
gentle pressure lengthwise, or with the 
grain of the wood. A suitable block, 
made of cork or wood, should always 
be used, and in moldings the block 
must be cut to fit the hollows. The 
sandpaper is wrapped around the block 
and when worn off is turned around 
or exchanged. Sandpaper should never 
be torn off the sheet, but cut into parts 
by placing the sandpaper, rough side 
down, on a table or board and cutting 
or ripping the inside with a knife, after 
which it is bent in a sharp angle and 
pulled apart. To test the quality of 
sandpaper bend it sharply and see if it 
parts, that is, if the coarse part of it 
will separate from the paper. Use will 
tell you the difference between good 
and bad sandpaper surely and quickly. 
Care should be taken in sandpapering 
not to round the edges in panel work. 

Steel Wool. 

The use of steel wool and steel shav- 
ings for smoothing purposes in this 
country is somewhat new and for 
page twelve 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

quickness and accurate work it cannot 
be classed with sandpaper, although it 
is in itself more expensive than the lat- 
ter. Its discovery, as a material for 
rubbing down, was left to the father of 
the writer, who, about the year 1882, 
procured some steel shavings, a waste 
material at that time, from a tool fac- 
tory, and used it for rubbing down 
floors, Since that time it has been 
manufactured in a number of different 
grades, from coarse to fine, arranged 






Fig. 1 




the same as sandpaper and used for 
the same purpose. It is advisable to 
protect the hands with leather gloves 
to prevent splinters of steel wool from 
entering the hands. Steel wool will 
prevent the rubbing off and rounding 
of fine edges and is the only material 
which can successfully be used in 
carvings. 

The quality of steel wool is shown 
by its elasticity and brittleness, the 
more elastic the better, also by its cut. 
The best grade of steel wool is cut 
with a triangular section (see Figure 
1.) ; the common grade is cut in the 
segment of a circle (see Figure 2.) 

page thirteen 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

For rubbing down very stringy, or 
very hard wood, steel wool cannot be 
compared with any other material. 

Pumice Stone and Soft Sandstone. 

Pumice and sandstone are sometimes 
used for rubbing straight surfaces and 
in block form are better than sand- 
paper for that purpose. In powder form 
they are used with water or oil for 
rubbing down varnishes. 



page fourteen 




ARCHITECTURAIj 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 



CHAPTER III. 

Stains and Staining Woods. 

E now come to staining the 
wood and the materials 
used for that purpose. 
Staining is s>o variable in 
itself and it is necessary besides to sat- 
isfy the tastes of your customer and 
the sometimes impossible ideas of the 
architects, that it requires a most skill- 
ful and experienced mechanic to make 
not only a sightly but also a tasteful 
and harmonious job. Thorough knowl- 
edge of both work and material is re- 
quired from the finisher. 

Stains are divided into numerous va- 
rieties, as follows: Water, spirit or 
alcohol, acid and alkali, oil and var- 
nish, and these again into pigment, 
lake, aniline and vegetable stains. 
There are also methods of staining or 
darkening by steaming, fuming, etc., 
including the darkening of the wood 
caused by nreproofmg the wood, which 
is frequently done, and which requires 
a special treatment which will be de- 
scribed later on. 

Water stains are commonly mixtures 
of lakes or vegetable matters and ani- 
lines. 

page fifteen 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

Lakes, or vegetable stains, are de- 
coctions of natural colored woods, such 
as logwood, Brazil wood, sandal wood, 
Sapan wood, Lima wood, canewood, 
Campeachy wood, etc., roots, leaves, 
fruits, skins, bark and numerous other 
vegetable matter are also used in their 
manufacture. Water stains are most 
lasting, if made from vegetable matter. 
They also give the most natural look- 
ing colors, and they should be applied 
as warm as possibly can be done, but 
never at a temperature lower than ioo 
deg. Fahrenheit. 

Water stains, mixed with anilines, 
are very often used on account of their 
cheapness and quick preparation, but 
they are not as lasting in color. They 
fade quickly, especially if exposed to 
the sunlight and show streaky and 
botchy if not properly applied. 

Spirit Stains. 

Spirit or alcohol stains are made the 
same way as water stains, and are used 
to obtain a more penetrative stain, also 
a greater density of color and to allow 
a quicker job, as alcohol evaporates 
more quickly, and when shellacking is 
resorted to afterward they allow an 
almost immediate application of the 
same. Otherwise a water stain is just 
as effective. 

To prevent the raising of the fiber 
of the wood in applying either the wa- 
page sixteen 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

ter or alcohol stain, a good many wood 
finishers add a small portion of gly- 
cerin or castor oil, but the utmost pre- 
caution in using those articles is ad- 
vised, because a too liberal use of the 
same will prove disastrous to the after 
finish, as both of them are of an oily, 
non-drying nature, causing the shellac 
or varnish to scale or chip off; pre- 
venting also the penetration of the 
stain into the wood and having a good 
many other disadvantages. 

White pine, whitewood, cypress and 
a few other very spongy woods are de- 
barred from water or alcohol staining, 
except when a so-called solid color is 
required, because the application of 
stain on those woods cannot be evenly 
done, as their soft and spongy nature 
will absorb the stain immediately, and 
the touching of the same place a second 
time will show a decided mark or lap. 
A dipping process would be about the 
only way to partially overcome those 
disadvantages. 

The application of both water and 
alcohol stain should be done with a 
brush, the bristles of which are set in 
cement, a sponge or swab, but no doubt 
the brush is the proper tool. All stain 
which is not at once absorbed by the 
wood should be wiped off with a soft 
rag. For dipping, a vat or barrel 
should be used or any other vessel 

page seventeen 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

which does not contain any metal parts 
whatever, but which is entirely made 
from wood. 

All stained wood should be given the 
proper time to dry, and should receive 
two coats of stain, the second coat 
should be applied after the first is 
properly dried out, or if a quicker and 
cheaper job is required a coat of shel- 
lac or copal varnish should be given 
before sandpapering, excepting only 
where the wood is to be filled with 
wood filler before finishing up. The 
reason for applying a second coat is 
simply that after sandpapering, after 
the first coat, small light dots will ap- 
pear wherever the stain has not pene- 
trated deep enough into the raised 
fibers. 

Mordants. 

By mordants we understand a chem- 
ical to fix or set a color to prevent it 
from changing. For the finisher, alum 
and ferro-sulphide, known as green 
copperas, are sufficient. They are 
used by dissolving a quantity, about 
one-half pound to a gallon of warm 
water, and applying a coat over the 
work before sandpapering or varnish- 
ing. 

Acid and Alkali Stains. 

Staining with acid or alkali stains 
is done practically the same way as has 

page eighteen 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

been described for water and alcohol 
stains, with the exception that these 
stains generally do not require a sec- 
ond application. Care must be used in 
handling these stains, as most of them 
are very dangerous poisons. The most 
commonly used materials for these 
stains are chromate and bichromate of 
potassium, ferro-sulphide or green cop- 
peras, picric and sulphuric acid, iodine, 
alum, vinegar, soda, caustic snda, pot- 
ash or pearl ash, ammonia, lime, etc. 

Chromate and bichromate of potas- 
sium are generally used to produce a 
so-called golden oak effect on oak, or 
an antique mahogany effeci on mahog- 
any. Picric acid will always give a 
yellow effect and is used to lighten up, 
in fact to entirely change the color, of 
walnut. Copperas is used to set and 
deepen the obtained colors, and alum 
and vinegar to neutralize or kill the 
after effects of acid and alkali stains. 
Iodine produces a very beautiful 
brown stain, but is rather too expen- 
sive to be used commonly. Caustic 
soda and kindred materials produce 
dark stains, but on account of their 
after effects are not often used. Lime 
will produce a similar effect, but not so 
deep a color as soda or potash, and is 
used by slaking the same as in a suffi- 
cient quantity of water to make lime 
milk, which is brushed over the sur- 

page nineteen 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

face to be stained, and allowed to re- 
main to dry, after which it is brushed 
off, washed clean and the surface is 
then coated with vinegar. 

Ammonia is used the same as all 
other alkali stains, by reducing it with 
water to the required strength, and is 
applied with a grass or fiber brush, as 
it will destroy any hair or bristle 
brush. 

Acid and alkali staining is done only 
on wood containing tannic acid in a 
larger or smaller percentage, as those 
stains will hardly produce any coloring 
on any dry, pitchy, or sappy wood. 

Fuming. 

Fuming of wood is a procedure 
which is not often resorted to for vari- 
ous reasons, but which has a decided 
advantage over all other methods, be- 
cause it does not raise the fiber of the 
wood, leaves it in its original condi- 
tion, but produces only color which, of 
course, can be secured in different 
shadings from light to dark. It is the 
only method to produce a so-called 
Flemish oak effect, and should be done 
in all cases where a wax finish is re- 
quired, leaving the wood in its normal 
state. As a rule, oak is the only wood 
subjected to fuming, but other woods 
can be done the same way. Fuming 
is done in a simple way, as follows : 

page twenty 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

Take an air-tight box or room, place 
several flat porcelain or glass dishes on 
the floor containing 26 deg. ammonia. 
After placing the wood to be stained 
on brackets, close the room or box up 
tight, and allow the wood to remain 
twelve hours or more until such a time 
as the desired effect is obtained, after 
which give it a good airing to allow 
the ammonia gases which remain in 
the wood to* evaporate before finishing 
up. The result is a perfect, even stain- 
ing, without the need of sandpapering. 

Oil and Varnish Stains. 

Oil stains are not often used by the 
finisher, as they do not always give 
the proper result. For very soft and 
spongy woods, as white pine, white- 
wood, cypress, etc., they are essential, 
but on very hard woods they refuse to 
penetrate deep enough into the wood 
and with very few exceptions all oil 
stains will darken and quite often they 
will cause the varnish to shrink if no 
shellac is used before varnishing. Fur- 
thermore, a good many oil stains, es- 
pecially when made with ordinary col- 
ors, will mar and cloud the grain of the 
wood, on account of their opacity. 
The materials used for oil stains are 
linseed oil, japan, benzine, turpentine, 
asphaltum, Van Dyke brown and all 
lake and oil colors. The finer the color 

page twenty-one 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

the more brilliant will be the effect. 
Asphaltum and Van Dyke brown are 
mainly used to obtain the golden oak 
and antique effects in oak and mahog- 
any, but have otherwise various uses. 

For drying purposes in mixing oil 
stains the borate of manganese is al- 
ways preferable to japan driers, except 
when asphaltum is used. Anilines are 
not soluble in oil and the articles which 
are sold as oil-soluble anilines are 
nothing but aniline dissolved in gly- 
cerin or other fatty and non-drying in- 
gredients, and are worthless for the 
wood finisher. This is a fact which the 
writer, after years of experimenting, 
has found out to his cost. 

Varnish stains are household articles 
and are not used by the artisan except 
when on old work a toning up is re- 
quested. In applying varnish stains 
the same care is required as in enam- 
eling, as they set quickly and will show 
laps if repeatedly worked over. 

Paraffine and all non-drying and 
mineral oils should not be used in 
staining wood or for any other pur- 
pose, except rubbing down. 



page twenty-two 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 



CHAPTER IV. 

The Preparation of Stains. 

REPARING or making stairs 
O) is an important point in the 



work of wood-finishing, and 
also a very interesting item 
owing to its many variations. This 
work should usually be left to the 
manufacturer of finishing materials, 
but in many cases the finisher is re- 
quired to compound his own stains to 
suit the taste and requirements of the 
customer or architect. 

The time, of course, is past where 
the artisan went out to gather his own 
raw materials in the shape of barks, 
leaves, roots, fruits, fruit skins, etc., 
and the best he can do now is to buy 
the finished products, or, at least, the 
materials ready to be dissolved in the 
respective solvent. 

In the following will be given a few 
of the most commonly used stains and 
how to prepare them, considering an 
effective material, easy to use, and 
which may be cheaply prepared. 

Antique Effect for Oak and Other 
Woods. 

I. Boil together I oz. catechu with 
l]/ 2 pints of water, apply and follow 

page twenty-three 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

afterwards with a coat of I oz. bichrom- 
ate of potassium dissolved in 1^2 pints 
of water. The result will be a golden 
oak effect on oak. The same used on 
mahogany will produce a dark antique. 

2. Coffee, ground and roasted very 
dark, boiled with water, will produce a 
beautiful dark brown on oak or other 
light woods. 

3. Green walnut peds boiled with 
water will produce a deep brown, and 
if applied several times will turn black, 
especially when followed by a coat of 
iron filings soaked in vinegar for sev- 
eral days or a coat of ferro-sulphite 
(green copperas) dissolved in the pro- 
portion of about y 2 pound to a gallon 
of water. 

4. Fresh slaked lime, called milk of 
lime, whitewash, applied with a grass 
or fiber brush and brushed off after 
drying will give an antique or dark- 
brown effect on all woods containing 
tannic acid, such as oak, mahogany, 
ash, birch, cherry, walnut, etc. 

5. A similar effect is obtained by the 
application of liquid ammonia (harts- 
horn), on the same kinds of wood, for 
oak, especially to produce the old Eng- 
lish color. 

6. For a XVI. century effect on oak, 
apply sulphuric acid diluted with equal 
parts of water. 

page twenty-four 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

7. Black asphaltum varnish mixed 
with Van Dyke brown and thinned 
with benzine or turpentine will also 
give a golden oak effect on oak and a 
nice dark brown color on light woods. 

8. Bichromate or permanganate of 
potassium will produce a similar effect 
on oak and mahogany to that described 
in No. 1. 

9. One gallon of strong vinegar, or 
dilute acetic acid mixed with 3^-pound 
Van Dyke brown, 1 pound of burnt 
Turkey umber and ^-pound of rose 
pink, C. P., prepared at least 24 hours 
before using, will produce a deep rich 
brown color on any kind of wood. 

11. Bismarck brown added to burnt 
sienna and dissolved in alcohol can be 
used in preparing stains for birch, cher- 
ry, or other light-colored woods for a 
mahogany color, or can also be used on 
mahogany itself to enrich the color of 
it. By adding burnt Turkey umber the 
color will be proportionately darkened. 

12. Anilin colors, of desired shades, 
can be mixed with alcohol for any kind 
of wood, and if the raising of the fiber 
is objectionable the addition of a small 
quantity of castor oil or glycerin is rec- 
ommended, if carefully used. 

13. Anilin colors, as auove, boiled 
with water and a small quantity of 

page twenty-five 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

soda or potash, are also used for the 
same purpose, but such color will 
show different effects than if mixed 
with alcohol, and, besides, all anilin 
colors will fade and change within a 
short time despite protection by var- 
nish. The use of a mordant for those 
colors is required, and is applied after- 
ward in the form of alum, i pound dis- 
solved in warm water, or green cop- 
peras as previously mentioned. In 
using this mordant the stain has to be 
thoroughly dried. 

13. A green stain on all kinds of 
woods is made by dissolving verdigris 
in soft water or vinegar. 

14. Chemically pure colors and lakes, 
selected according to requirements, 
and boiled with soft water and a small 
amount of gelatine or isinglass will 
produce very good results and are very 
permanent. 

15. The same as above, mixed with 
alcohol and a small quantity of shellac 
varnish will be nearly as satisfactory. 

16. Another process of staining is by 
using picric acid dissolved in water or 
vinegar. This will lighten walnut con- 
siderably and give a yellow color to 
other woods, with the exception of ma- 
hogany. 

17. Bichromate of potassium, dis- 
solved in water, applied on walnut, 

page twenty-six 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

will make a good imitation of rose- 
wood. 

18. To imitate walnut on pine lum- 
ber use a solution of black privet berry 
in liquid ammonia, about 2 oz. to 1^2 
pints. 

19. A metallic black stain on any 
kind of wood may be had by applying 
a strong solution of nitrate of silver 
under exposure to light, 

20. All direct color, such as ivory or 
drop black, ochers, umbers, siennas, 
can be used to make water, alcohol or 
oil stains, similar to those described in 
former items. 

21. Logwood chips boiled in soft 
water or logwood extract dissolved in 
alcohol are used to make dark brown 
or soft black stains, if followed up with 
a coat of copperas solution or iron fil- 
ings in vinegar. 

22. Varnish stains for use in touching 
up old work, otherwise known as 
household articles, are made by mix- 
ing good transparent lake or mineral 
colors with japan and adding the de- 
sired quantity to a good copal varnish 
gradually, under continuous stirring. 

Numerous other methods could be 
mentioned, but the foregoing will be 
found the most essential ones in archi- 
tectural work, and the desired effects 
have to be ascertained by experiment- 
ing on the part of the finisher. 

page twenty-seven 




ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDV/OOD 

FINISHING 



CHAPTER V. 

Wood Fillers. 

LTHOUGH a necessity in 
modern wood finishing, the 
use of wood fillers dates back 
only some thirty to thirty-five 
years. Nowadays a good many articles 
are manufactured and sold under the 
name of wood fillers which are good 
for anything else but the purpose they 
are intended for. Wood fillers are used 
not only to fill the pores of the wood, 
but have to serve also for a good many 
other purposes, in fact the proper fill- 
ing of open grained wood with proper 
material is most essential for the high 
grade finish of the wood. 

The general make up of a filler 
should be of a hard transparent base, 
to prevent clouding the grain of the 
wood. Furthermore, it should consist 
of a good binder in the form of a drier, 
a varnish and oil and also of a thinner. 

Competition has brought the price of 
wood fillers to such a low level that 
even the large consumers, who are 
using wood fillers by the ton lots, do 
not attempt to make them themselves, 
but buy the ready-made article, there- 
fore it does not pay the smaller user or 
finisher to make wood filler in small 
quantities ; first, on account of the lack 
of proper material and lack of ma- 

page twenty-eight 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 



chinery to produce a uniform mixture. 
Clays, chalk, terra alba, whiting, 
barytes, talcum, asbestine, marble dust, 
corn starch and all opaque materials or 
those of a soft or easy decaying nature 
must be left out entirely in the making 
of a good filler, and only materials of a 
certain hardness and transparency 
should be used. In buying wood filler 
it would be of advantage lo use the fol- 
lowing test. 

Test for Wood Fillers. 

Take a piece of light colored card- 
board or heavy paper, or still better, a 
piece of raw, unfinished wood; then 




W$] Figure 3. 

take a small quantity of the pigment or 
sediment in the filler and place the 
same on the board. Take a clean steel 
knife, and by gently rubbing the same 
over the filler in the same manner as if 
polishing the knife (see Figure 3), the 
filler should turn black, which will 
prove the presence of a hard crystal. 
page twenty-nine 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

The sooner the filler turns black the 
better the quality will be. In compar- 
ing two or more different grades of fill- 
ers, you will probably find the differ- 
ence. Should no change in color ap- 
pear, that is, should the filler fail to 
turn black, you may safely reject it as 
an unfit material for hardwood finish- 
ing. 

Properties of Fillers. 

Ground glass or the well known silex 
or silica are best known, the former be- 
ing seldom used because the latter is 
sold at such a low figure that it can be 
used with advantage in the cheapest 
grades of fillers, besides it appears so 
abundantly that there is no fear of its 
becoming exhausted; in fact one-third 
of our planet is composed of silex or 
quartz. It even enters into vegetable 
matter in the form of coatings, such as 
cane. Silex is found in several forms: 
one is the natural deposit of fine silex, 
which is lacking the hardness and the 
crystalline form and is valueless in the 
manufacture of filler; another form is 
crystal quartz, which is used for a good 
many purposes, especially in the man- 
ufacture of glass, polishing materials 
and scouring soaps ; and, last but not 
least, in the manufacture of wood fill- 
ers. In its natural state quart2 appears 
in the form of large rocks, either in a 

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ARCHITECTURAL 

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milkish white or slightly colored hue of 
all colors of the rainbow or in a dirty 
brownish black called smoky quartz. It 
is chipped, broken into small pieces by 
heating the same in a kiln and sudden- 
ly cooling it by drenching the same 
with cold water, by which process it 
also becomes harder. Then it is as- 
sorted according to color, reduced to 
still smaller pieces and finally ground 
into a very fine powder which is of 
such fineness that the aid of a magnify- 
ing glass of 3,000 strength will be neces- 
sary to detect the single parts, every 
one of which will show the form of 
splinter or small needle. The hardness 
of quartz or silex is 7, which is only 
three removed from the diamond, 
which is 10. Silex in powdered form 
looks perfectly white and becomes 
transparent by mixing the same with 
oily substances. Silex is non-absorbent, 
which is another beneficial feature for 
its usefulness in the manufacture of 
wood filler. The hardness and sharp- 
ness of the single parts of silex guar- 
antee the perfect filling of the pores of 
the wood, and at the same time act as 
a cleaner or polisher of harder grains, 
bringing out the beauty of the wood 
not only in its natural clearness, but 
also developing and improving its gen- 
eral appearance. Wood not filled with 
pure silex filler will always show a 
cloudy effect and can be easily detected 
from the former. 

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Colored Wood Fillers. 

Wood filler is generally colored or 
should be so if used on the darker kinds 
of wood or where a certain effect is re- 
quired on lio^lit colored woods or when a 
filler is used on stained wood. In the 
latter case it is only required to match 
the color of the stain, while in the first 
case a colored filler is used to produce 
a colored or stained effect on the wood. 

When colored fillers are used on 
open pored and hard grained, so-called 
quartered or cross-cut woods, mainly 
on oak, ash, curly yellow pine, etc., it 
produces beautiful effects, and the per- 
fect wood finisher can show his ability 
in producing effects of peculiar results, 
entirely different from the artificial 
stained wood. 

In the following will be given some 
formulas for coloring or staining wood 
fillers. 

Colored Wood Fillers. 

1. Antique Oak: — Take 10 lbs. of 
paste filler and add i to J lb. of burnt 
Turkey umber. 

2. Golden Oak: — to lbs. of paste fill- 
er, i lb. of Vandyke brown, -J to I pint 
of black asphaltum varnish. 



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3. Dark Golden Oak: — 10 lbs. paste 
filler, J lb. Vandyke brown, J lb. burnt 
Turkey umber, \ ounce drop black, \ 
pint black asphaltum varnish. 

4. Flemish Oak: — 10 lbs. paste filler, 
J lb. Vandyke brown, \ lb. burnt 
Turkey umber, 1. ounce drop black. 

5. Dark Effect on Oak or Ash, with 
a Greenish Cast: — 10 lbs. paste filler, 1 
to 2 ounces of lamp black. 

6. Forest Green : — 10 lbs. paste filler, 
1 ounce of lamp black, \ lb. of chrome 
yellow, or if a deeper moss green is re- 
quired, take \ lb. of light yellow ocher 
instead of chrome yellow. 

7. Mahogany : — 10 lbs. of paste filler, 
i to J lb. of burnt Italian sienna. 

8. Bright Mahogany: — 10 lbs. of 
paste filler, J to ■§ lbs. of burnt Italian 
sienna, 2 ounces of rose pink or rose 
lake or maroon lake. 

9. Antique Mahogany: — 10 lbs. of 
paste filler, J to J lb. of burnt Italian 
sienna, J lb. of Vandyke brown. 

10. Very Dark Antique Mahogany: 
— 10 lbs. of paste filler, \ lb. burnt Ital- 
ian sienna, 2 ounces of rose pink or 
lake, -J ounce of drop black. 

11. Rosewood: — Same as No. 10. 

12. Walnut: — Same as Nos. 1, 3 and 
4- 

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13. Ebony:-— 10 lbs. paste filler, -| lb. 
drop black, | ounce Prussian blue. 

All other woods will show a similar 
coloring if the respective colored filler 
is used on them, and in cases where 
those woods have been previously 
stained a very good imitation of the 
genuine wood is produced, which is 
true in the case of using ash for oak 
and birch or cherry in imitation of ma- 
hogany. 

Liquid fillers can be similarly col- 
ored, but care must be taken to use 
only the purest and strongest kinds of 
stainers and colors. 



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CHAPTER VI. 

Paste Fillers and How to Use Them. 

FTER describing the various 
wood fillers and materials used 
for this purpose in the last 
chapter in a general way, it 
may be here stated that fillers ordi- 
narily are divided into paste and liquid 
fillers. The paste fillers are really fillers 
used for filling the pores of the wood, 
while the liquid fillers belong to the 
class of primers or first coaters. 

Paste fillers must be thinned down to 
the consistency of flowing varnish. As 
a thinner you may use turpentine or 
benzine, but the turpentine is much to 
be preferred for the reason that it is low 
volatile, or evaporates slower, and is 
therefore less inflammable and danger- 
ous. Turpentine holds its moisture for 
a considerably longer period than ben- 
zine and thereby allows the finisher a 
better chance to apply the filler on a 
larger surface and to rub it into the 
pores more properly than filler thinned 
with benzine. Where a paste filler sets 
too quick, that is, gets hard before the 
finisher has a chance to rub it in, it is 
advisable to add a small quantity of 
boiled linseed oil which, if used in ex- 
cess, will retard the drying. A short, 
heavy brush should be used to apply 
the filler and the material must be thor- 

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ARCHITECTURAL 

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oughly worked crossways so as to rub 
into the pores as much filler as possible. 
This will make the after work easier. 
The finishers, as a general rule, apply 
the filler in a very easy manner, simply 
trying to get it on the surface and re- 
lying entirely on the rubbing in, which is 
a wrong idea. After the filler is applied 
it should be allowed to set ; that is, suf- 
ficient time should be given to let part 
of the turpentine evaporate until the 
surface appears "flat," and then it must 
be thoroughly rubbed crossways into 
the pores. This process is called pack- 
ing, and requires some experience. The 
packing or rubbing, in itself, is done 
with a piece of bagging or some similar 
kind of coarse cloth. A good many 
finishers use excelsior or shavings, but 
those articles are not as practical, as 
they are liable to pull out part of the 
filler again, especially in the hands of 
an inexperienced person. After assur- 
ing yourself that the pores have been 
properly filled, the work must be 
slightly wiped off with a piece of soft 
cloth, to remove any traces of filler, 
which probably may have been left by 
the use of the coarse cloth being filled 
up with an excess of the material. If 
at any time the filler has set too hard; 
that is, if it is partly dried up so as to 
make the rubbing in impossible or dif- 
ficult, a small amount of turpentine 

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ARCHITECTURAL 

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placed on the rubbing cloth, or still bet- 
ter, a brushing- over the surface with 
turpentine, will remedy the trouble. 

Before the next coatings are applied, 
from twenty-four to forty-eight hours 
must be allowed for drying. Some fin- 
ishers make a great mistake in hurry- 
ing the work just after filling, believ- 
ing no harm is done, whereas in fact 
the most harm to the final finish had 
been done. Proper filling lightens the 
work in after finishing considerably, 
therefore some finishers believe in ap- 
plying two coats of paste filler with 
good results. The second coat of filler 
is applied and treated the same as the 
first coat, a slight sandpapering be- 
tween coats being beneficial. A sec- 
ond coat of paste filler is, of course, 
only necessary on very coarse grained 
or open pored woods, such as ash, oak, 
certain kinds of mahogany, walnut, 
etc. For filling small moldings and 
carvings, properly speaking for clean- 
ing the filler out of them, a few plain 
tools are required. 

In the first place a pointed wooden pick, 
easily made from any kind of a piece of 
hard wood, is used in cleaning the re- 
maining filler out of the corners and 
crevices. Iron or other metal tools must 
not be used, as those will leave black 
streaks, providing a good pure silex 
paste filler has been used. Neither 

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ARCHITECTURAL 

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should steel wool be used instead of 
sandpaper for smoothing down. It 
is best to use a small wooden hand 
brush, with or without handle, shaped 
like a small scrubbing brush, which 
may be made of tampico, but a better 
grade of stiff bristle brush, of the same 
shape, is much to be preferred, being 
more durable and practical. This brush 
is used for cleaning carvings and deeper 
laying parts of the work where it is im- 
possible to apply the cloth. 

There is little more to be said about 
the use of paste fillers, as the finisher 
has to find out the fine points of this 
class of work by continual practical ex- 
perience. The filling of close grained 
wood with paste filler has been often 
discussed and laughed at by a good 
many, but it is done very frequently 
and some beautiful effects are produced 
with colored fillers on so-called burly 
or curly woods. North Carolina curly 
pine, treated with a colored paste filler, 
will produce such varieties of effects 
that it is at times impossible to detect 
the original. 



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CHAPTER VII. 

First Coaters. 

O the list of first coaters — or 
primers — belong the liquid 
JL fillers, as well as the shellacs 
and their substitutes, which 
will be described in the following chap- 
ter, but owing- to the large variety of 
those articles, only the most common 
will be mentioned, and as every man- 
ufacturer has his own individual ma- 
terial, the omission of some of them 
may be excused. 

Liquid Fillers. 

As mentioned previously, liquid 
fillers belong to the class of first coaters 
or surfacers, because they are not fillers 
in the proper sense of the word, but are 
used to stop the suction of the wood 
and to form an underground or base for 
the subsequent coatings. Liquid fillers are 
not rubbed into the pores of the wood, 
but simply brushed over the surface in a 
somewhat similar manner to varnish. It is 
not recommended to use colored liquid 
fillers, because it is a peculiarity of silex 
and other material used as a base for 
liquid filler, that the smallest addition 
of color will make them very opaque 
and transform them into a paint-like 
substance, with the result of covering 

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ARCHITECTURAL 

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the natural grain of the wood and 
clouding the general appearance. 

A great humbug and fake business is 
frequently done under the name of 
liquid fillers. Many cases are known 
where painters or finishers who are 
under contract to use a liquid filler 
on a given job go to work and buy or- 
dinary ceiling or rosin varnish with the 
order to have it sent to the job marked 
"Liquid Filler," and some unscrupulous 
manufacturers are doing the same thing 
in selling those improper finishing ma- 
terials under the spurious name of 
"liquid filler" to the unsuspecting buyer. 
Advice is hereby given, if you do not 
buy your liquid filler from a responsible 
firm, you may prefer to mix such a 
filler yourself, which is easily done, 
thereby saving the price of the cans, 
manufacturing expenses and profit. 

Formula for Liquid Filler. 

Take a gallon of a medium good var- 
nish, inside coach varnish preferred, 
and add to it from three to five pounds 
of a pure silex paste filler. Stir up or 
mix properly, and thin down with tur- 
pentine or benzine and you have as 
good a liquid filler as you can buy at 
any price. The quality of the filler will 
rest with the quality of the varnish used 
for it. The test of a good liquid filler is 
the same as previously given for paste 

page forty 



ARCHITECTURAL 

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filler. Liquid filler should also be al- 
lowed to dry from twenty-four to forty- 
eight hours, according to weather con- 
ditions, and must be sandpapered before 
subsequent coatings are applied. 

Liquid filler cannot, or should not, be 
used for any open pored or coarse 
grained wood, but its use is restricted to 
close-grained wood, but liquid filler can 
be used as an after coating over paste 
filler with good results, and in this case 
it is much preferable to a coat of cheap 
varnish, because it will stop suction to 
a better advantage and will prevent the 
sinking in of the succeeding coats of 
varnish. 

Shellac. 

It may be interesting to a good many 
mechanics to learn something about the 
origin of the materials they use, and 
the materials used by wood finishers 
are so especially interesting in regard 
to their origin and manufacture that 
the writer cannot help it, but give a 
short description about the production 
of some of them. 

Shellac comes from the East Indies, 
being an exclusive product of that part 
of the world, and occurs as a sap, being 
sweated out from the branches of a 
small tree, appearing as small pearl-like 
drops of gum. The exudation of the 
gum is caused by the bite or cutting of 

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ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

the bark of a tiny reddish-brown col- 
ored insect. The gum itself is of a 
clear, light yellow, transparent hue, but 
receives its peculiar orange color from 
the numerous insects sticking to it and 
connecting firmly with it. The gum it- 
self is scraped off and collected, 
cleaned, picked and melted and spread 
in thin films on large stone platters. 
After drying the product, it is packed 
and shipped to all parts of the world to 
be used for various purposes of which 
the use for wood finishing consumes 
only a small percentage of the full out- 
put. The shells of the insect, cleaned 
from the tar, were formerly used for the 
production of a beautiful and lasting 
red color, used in wood finishing and 
painting, but owing to the expense of 
manufacturing, its use has been aban- 
doned and modern chemistry has found 
good substitutes for it. 

Shellac is soluble in either grain or 
wood alcohol of at least 90 degrees, and 
in most all distillations of wood, in- 
cluding the methyls, ethyls, acetones, 
fusel oil and some carbon products. 
For wood finishing purposes the alco- 
hols are exclusively used as cutting or 
dissolving agents. The proportions 
used is about 3 to 6 pounds to the gal- 
lon of alcohol, and the solution is called 
shellac varnish. 

Orange shellac varnishes are used on 

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ARCHITECTURAL 

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FINISHING 

the darker woods for first coating-, or 
on oak and ash to produce the so-called 
golden oak effect, and on other light 
wood where a special light orange 
color is required. When a perfectly- 
clear and transparent finish is required 
on light colored wood, the bleached or 
white shellac is used. Shellac is 
bleached in various ways: By filtering 
the light orange shellac varnish through 
spodium (refined animal charcoal), but 
the commercial method of bleaching is 
by cutting the shellac with a boiling so- 
lution of soda or borax, adding a solu- 
tion of chloride of lime, precipitating 
the shellac with hydrochloric acid and 
washing the product to remove all 
traces of the chemicals, leaving a soft 
product of silky appearance which is 
dried and ground, after which it is cut 
with alcohol and made ready for use. 
The bleaching process being very com- 
plicated, is not recommended to be 
done by the wood finisher, who will find 
it more advantageous to buy the fin- 
ished product. In fact, even the cut- 
ting of shellac is done by machinery, 
and the shellac varnish is sold ready for 
use to the consumer. Bleached shellac 
varnish will show a milky appearance 
when cut with alcohol, but it becomes 
perfectly transparent when applied to 
the wood. A refined bleached shellac 
appears as a perfectly clear liquid of a 

page forty-three 



ARCHITECTURAL 

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light varnish color. Owing to its high 
price it is seldom used by the wood 
finisher, but is used extensively as 
metal lacquer. 

Adulteration of Shellac. 

Shellac, on account of its high price, 
is one of the most adulterated articles 
in the market, and rosin is its most 
common adulterant, but sandarac and 
other gums soluble in alcohol are fre- 
quently used. In some cases the adul- 
teration of shellac serves as an im- 
provement to it, as well as a cheapener. 
The addition of Venice turpentine, for 
instance, for shellac used for floor fin- 
ishes, is actually an improvement, but 
the small amount used for that purpose 
can hardly be called an adulteration. 
Rosin, as an adulterant, can in no case 
be called an improvement. It will pre- 
vent the shellac from properly drying 
hard, cause it to soften under a higher 
temperature, and in many cases cause9 
the after coatmgs to crack. 

Testing of Shellac. 

Aside from the chemical test for 
purity we are not in possession of any 
plain, practical test for shellac which 
could be used with advantage or surety 
by the practical finisher. A large ex- 
port of rosin is made to the East In- 
dies, and it has been found that this is 

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ARCHITECTURAL 

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used in the adulteration of shellac be- 
fore it reaches our shores and comes 
into the hands of the consumer. The 
bleached, bone dry white shellac is still 
more adulterated in numerous cases 
and in that state the adulteration is 
more difficult to detect. A test for the 
purity of shellac has been lately intro- 
duced in the market which consists of a 
testing solution that is poured into a 
tube containing a few drops of the 
alcohol solution, turning dark if adul- 
teration be present. This testing solu- 
tion is the invention of Dr. Langmuir, 
the chemist of a large New York shel- 
lac importing house, from whom it can 
be obtained, together with glass phials 
for making the tests and complete in- 
structions for use. 

Testing a shellac sold as grain alco- 
hol shellac, for the presence of wood 
alcohol, is an impossibility for the fin- 
isher, because a deodorized wood alco- 
hol or wood spirit can be used to 
quite an extent without fear of detec- 
tion. In fact, there is hardly a pure 
grain alcohol shellac sold, the shellac 
so named being usually nothing else 
but mixtures with spirits as stated 
above. Wood alcohol has long been 
known to be an active poison, but re- 
cent investigations have proved it to be 
much more dangerous than was sup- 
posed. Several cases are on record 

page forty-five 



ARCHITECTURAL 

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FINISHING 

where painters using- it have been made 
permanently blind by inhaling the 
fumes rising from it. Otherwise, wood 
alcohol has been proved just as good as 
grain alcohol, except on French polish 
work. Grain alcohol shellac will dry 
more quickly than wood alcohol, but 
with the advantage that grain alcohol 
shellac will take more time to "set," 
and therefore allows a better brushing 
out without showing "laps." 

How to Use Shellac. 

A glue set, first class bristle brush is 
the proper tool for applying the shellac, 
and either a double thick flat, oval, or 
round brush can be used, according to 
the work to be done. The surface must 
be properly smoothed and dusted. The 
shellac must be thinned down and that 
two thin coats are better than one 
heavy coat is the golden rule in this 
case. The thinning is done with alco- 
hol, and should the alcohol be weak- 
ened from long standing or the shellac 
be thickened from the same cause, the 
addition of a small portion of spirits of 
turpentine to the alcohol is recom- 
mended to offset the action of the water 
in the alcohol. 

The application is done by brushing 
quickly one way in long stretches, 
avoiding doubling up to prevent lap- 
ping and "no crossing allowed." 

page forty-six 



ARCHITECTURAL 

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Touching up of spots missed must also 
be avoided, and the material must be 
properly and evenly spread, as shellac 
does not level as varnish does. Sand- 
papering or the use of steel wool be- 
tween coats must be resorted to. 

Objections to the Use of Shellac. 

Good work, that is high class, must 
not be shellacked, but must be worked 
up with varnish from the priming coat 
on. The reason for this is that the 
shellac is alcoholic and does not con- 
nect with either the oily undercoatings 
or w:th the varnish used afterward, 
but will cause chipping off of the var- 
nish on the least bit of rough use of the 
woodwork so treated. An example of 
and proof of this is a test on glass or 
metal, therefore shellac is only used on 
cheaper grade work, or where the fin- 
isher is forced to hurry up his work. 
No shellac should be used in any way 
on outside work, such as doors, vesti- 
bules, window frames nor in new build- 
ings where dampness will cause the 
chipping off before long. The least 
amount of moisture on the surface will 
prove disastrous to shellac, or even pre- 
vent its application altogether, and the 
poor appearance of some work is quite 
often the result, especially on so-called 
spotted work. 

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ARCHITECTURAL 

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Turpentine Shellac and Other Shellac 
Substitutes. 

As with linseed oil, no proper substi- 
tute has been found for shellac, but in 
the last few years, owing to the high 
price, a good many attempts to make 
such have been made. One of them is 
the so-called turpentine shellac, which 
consists of quick drying gums and 
which is very good for certain pur* 
poses, such as stopping suction and 
where a non-cracking or chipping ma- 
terial is wanted. Other substitutes are 
made from spirit soluble gums in addi- 
tion to rosin, and quite often the deadly 
and dangerous bi-sulphide of carbon is 
used by unscrupulous manufacturers, 
as a solvent for those gums. Those 
substitutes are without value for ar- 
chitectural work, and are only used in 
the finish of cheap furniture. Some of 
those substitutes may be mixed with 
shellac, after they have become aged 
and settled, but onlv to the detriment 
of the shellac. 

Linseed Oil as a First Coater. 

Some would-be finishers commit the 
crime of using linseed oil,pureor in con- 
nection with turpentine and driers, as 
a first coater. You may have noticed 
the dark and dirty-looking appearance 
of woodwork, especially piazza ceilings, 
wainscoting, etc., and may have at- 

page forty-eiglit 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

tributed it to the use of a poor varnish, 
but on investigating you will find, nine 
times out of ten, that it was a case of 
oiling the wood first before varnishing. 
Oil will remain soft, accumulate the 
dirt, prevent the varnish from properly 
drying, sink into the wood, carrying 
the varnish along, causing the latter to 
lose its luster and darkening the wood 
unnaturally until it becomes almost 
black. A test to prove this may be 
made by dropping some oil on a piece 
of wood and varnishing over it. Ex- 
pose it to the action of the weather or 
atmosphere, light, etc., and you will 
notice how this spot will become gradu- 
ally darker and be marked by a luster- 
less appearance. Should you find such 
would-be finishers who will proudly 
show you what a fine job they turned 
out and how cheap they did it, you may 
eive them the advice to get their money 
back from their instructors : or, still 
better, to look for a different profes- 
sion to make a living, as they are just 
the kind to bring discredit to our noble 
guild, but if you keep quiet and watch 
you will witness their commercial sui- 
cide and their removal to another place. 
Those fellows are of the "know it all" 
type and are easily distinguished. Gen- 
erallv they are unable to work for em- 
ploving painters and start business for 
themselves, being too conceited even to 

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ARCHITECTURAL 

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read The Painters Magazine, and learn 
something in that manner. 

Varnishes as First Coaters. 

Innumerable kinds and brands o! 
varnishes are sold as first coaters under 
spurious and high-toned names and 
elaborate labels, but the majority are 
nothing but cheap rosin varnishes. The 
best material for first coaters are the so- 
called interior coach varnishes. If 
good, they will allow sandpapering 
within forty-eight hours, and can be 
properly worked before setting. It is 
preferable to use the first coaters as 
thin as possible and good brushing out 
is required. Furniture varnish of a bet- 
ter grade may also be used, but it is not 
advisable, except where cheapness is 
essential. On all first coaters not con- 
taining a pigment, steel wool can be 
used for smoothing down. 



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CHAPTER VIII. 

Varnishing. 

{ * *s HE varnishing of hardwood is 
*l not, as some may think, an 

JL easy matter, to be taken light- 
ly, but it requires experienced 
workmen to do it. The better grades of 
varnishes, the only kind to be used in 
finishing, are as a rule put up in orig- 
inal packages, ready for use, and should 
not be tampered with by the workman. 
Each different brand has its own na- 
ture, which must be studied before one 
can produce a good finish, and it is said 
that no two varnishes are alike because 
the varnish maker puts his soul into 
them. Some varnishes not only allow 
a thorough brushing and crossing, but 
they require it, while others, especially 
the quick-setting kind, must be put on 
in long, even strokes, something like 
enamelling, and must be allowed to 
level out by themselves. 

Tools Used for Varnishing. 

Brushes, pots, and all tools used in 
connection with varnishing must be 
kept in proper care and that cleanliness 
is next to godliness is here the golden 
rule. The proper tools are a clean pot, 
with cover, as a receptacle for the var- 
nish in use. This pot contains a cross- 

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ARCHITECTURAL 

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bar or wire on the upper part, for the 
purpose of wiping the superfluous var- 
nish from the brush and to place the 
brush upon when not immediately in 
use. Another necessary appliance is a 




Figure 4. 

square can with cover, as shown by tht 
Figure 4, which is partly filled with 
spirits of turpentine to keep the brushes 
in, preventing them from hardening, 

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ARCHITECTURAL 

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FINISHING 

drying up, and getting dusty. The 
brushes are inserted deep enough to 
cover the bristles, and are hung upon 
the sides by means of a hook or by a 
wire laid across the top of the can, run- 
ning through a hole in the handle of the 
brush. In no case should the brushes 
be placed so that their ends will touch 
the bottom of the can, but they must 
remain suspended and the turpentine 
must frequently be renewed and the can 
properly cleaned. 

The style of brush used in varnishing 
varies according to the work to be done 
or to suit the fancy of the finisher. The 
proper brush is a 5-0 to 7-0 chiselled 
oval, made of elastic bristles, but a 
2\ to 4-inch double thick, flat brush, 
glue set, is well adapted for some 
straight work. The quality of brushes 
to be used is governed by the rule that 
"the best is none to good," and some 
brush manufacturers take particular 
pride in providing the trade with as 
good a varnish brush as can possibly 
be made. Some would-be finishers have 
a tendency to save in the price of 
brushes, but willingly pay a fair price 
for the varnish, but by so doing they 
show their lack of experience. Another 
necessary tool for the finisher is a good 
bristle duster; not the kind which 
doubles up by hanging free on a rack. 

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Use of Varnishes. 

In using varnish, it is recommended 
not to pour out of the original can any 
larger quantity than can be used up 
within one or two hours, and not to re- 
turn to the original can any varnish 
which might be left in the pot, but such 
leavings may be put in a separate can 
and used up for priming work or added 
to liquid fillers. Varnish must not be 
thinned because the manufacturer pro- 
duces the varnish in the proper con- 
sistency, but should varnish have be- 
come too heavy from long standing and 
require thinning, you may proceed as 
follows : Heat one large or two small 
vessels of water and place therein a can 
containing the varnish to be thinned 
and also a can containing sufficient 
spirits of turpentine for thinning. 
When both are properly warmed up, 
pour the necessary quantity of turpen- 
tine into the varnish and shake it up 
well, but be careful to do this away 
from any flame or open fire, as both 
materials, in the heated form, are very 
inflammable. After mixing, allow the 
varnish to settle for at least 24 hours, 
otherwise varnish should never be dis- 
turbed but carefully drawn off to avoid 
any sediment being mixed up with it. 
Even the best varnish, properly aged, 
is liable to settle or precipitate to some 
extent. 

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Varnish should not be applied in a 
temperature of less than 60 degrees F., 
the proper temperature being 70 to 80 
degreesF. Bad wear, crackling, blis- 
tering, etc., might be the result of ap- 
plication in cold weather. At least the 
manufacturer will not entertain any 
complaint in such cases. Damp weather 
must also be avoided, as any moisture 
on the surface will certainly cause blis- 
tering, turning white or blooming of 
varnish. Of course, in new buildings, 
where the work has to be completed 
within a limited time, such conditions 
may often exist and neither the finisher 
nor the material can be blamed for the 
failure to produce the expected finish. 

The surface to be varnished must be 
properly dusted and care must be taken 
to keep out dust as much as possible 
until the varnish has dried sufficiently 
to be immune to dust. Furthermore, 
the different varnishes should be ap- 
plied according to their own nature and 
not to suit the fancy of the finisher, as 
all varnishes have their own peculiari- 
ties, no two varnishes being alike. 

In applying, all deep laying parts of 
the work, such as panels, etc., are var- 
nished first and the raised work, such 
as frames, stiles, moldings and the 
like, are done afterward. The work it- 
self is started on the top or upper por- 
tions, the same as in painting. Base- 

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boards are done last. Forty-eight hours 
or more must be allowed for drying 
before applying the succeeding coat. A 
slight sandpapering or rubbing with 
steel wool, either one of a very fine 
grade, is required between coats, and 
gumming up of the varnish by sand- 
papering will prove that the varnish has 
not sufficiently dried to allow the next 
coat to be applied. Before the finish- 
ing coat is applied, rubbing with curled 
hair is required to avoid scratching. 
The finishing coat itself must be prop- 
erly leveled or glazed ; that is, after ap- 
plying the varnish over a certain por- 
tion of the work and before it has had a 
chance to set, brush lightly over the 
work, using the tip or end of the brush 
without any pressure, to remove all 
brush marks and produce an even, 
glossy surface. 

Testing of Varnish. 

To test a varnish as to its purity, 
lasting qualities, etc., so as to give an 
immediate result in a practical way, is 
so far an impossible thing, and the re- 
putation of the manufacturer must be 
used as a guide in buying. A good var- 
nish must have a pure turpentine smell 
with a sweetish scent of the gum, the 
least trace of the smell of benzine or 
other obnoxious thinners will prove the 
impurity of the varnish. In filling a 

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long vial or test tube the varnish must 
appear clear, without any cloud; without 
consideration of the color itself as some 
of the most expensive, and especially 
the hard-drying varnishes, are quite 
dark in color. The best and severest 
test is done on glass. Take a clean 
piece of sheet glass, pour some of the 
varnish on it and watch it run. A good 
varnish will run out smoothly without 
showing "pully." It must level per- 
fectly and set dustproof w r ithin a few 
hours, but should require two to three 
days to harden. The drying on glass 
will be considerably slower than on 
wood, but on metal, especially on iron, 
it will dry the quickest. 

Varnish must not appear brittle by 
scratching, nor leave any white marks. 
Rubbing and polishing varnishes 
should not show any impression when 
pressed against with the palm of the 
hand. Any failure to stand these tests 
will prove the presence of rosin or other 
impurities. The best test of all, of 
course, is time. 

All varnishes, good or bad in the 
course of time will crack. Naturally 
the cheaper grades will commence 
sooner than the better ones, and in the 
formation of the cracks a good or cheap 
varnish may be judged. The cracks of 
a common varnish will be large, wide 
and uneven, resembling alligator skin, 

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whereas the better grades of varnishes 
will show a crossed crack of a fine tex- 
ture resembling spider web, forming 
straight lines which in a varnish of a 
fair grade should not be noticed within 
two to three years. Other immediate 
practical tests for varnishes, as above 
stated, are hardly known and it requires 
an expert finisher to tell by their action 
in working them if they are of better or 
inferior qualities. For bathrooms and 
exterior use varnishes are made to suit 
the purpose. 

A little story may be given here as a 
guide for finishers in buying varnish. 
I happened to drop into the shop of a 
painting firm, located in a large town in 
the Eastern States. They were known 
in town as "the" painters and the head 
of the firm, considered "the master," 
was just relating some of his experi- 
ences when a dapper young varnish 
salesman entered, offering the products 
of the firm he represented. In his talk 
and arguments he showed that he 
lacked a knowledge of the fine points of 
the game to enable him to sell his goods 
to people who know something about 
them. After patiently listening to his 
explanations, the master painter told 
him that he was using the same kind of 
varnish for the last fifteen years, for 
which he pays a fair price, and the rea- 
son for not changing was that the var- 

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ARCHITECTURAL 

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nish is still in a good condition on the 
job he used it on fifteen years previous- 
ly, without being called upon to do the 
work over again, except an occasional 
rubbing over. "Well," said the sales- 
man, "I do not see what gain you can 
have by this. Now I will sell you a 
varnish, much less expensive, which 
will wear well for five to six years, 
which no doubt would satisfy your cus- 
tomers, and at the same time you could 
have done the job three times over in 
that fifteen years, thereby gaining your 
profit three times instead of once." 
That, no doubt, seemed to be a good 
argument, but the master painter said, 
"you are quite right, young man, but 
still we are ahead of the game because 
we have done the job fifteen times over ; 
that is, not exactly the same job, but 
we have had continuous work from 
those customers, ever since, without be- 
ing asked for an estimate. At the same 
time we built up a reputation and 
neither our work nor the materials we 
use are ever questioned nor specified." 
To this the knight of the grip had no 
reply and departed without disposing 
of any of his goods. 



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CHAPTER IX. 

Rubbing and Polishing. 

HN most modern buildings rubbing 
or even polishing of all varnished 
work is required and specified, 
but is it always done as required? 
Or if it is done is it done properly? We 
hear about eggshell gloss finish, also 
about dead or flat finishes. What is 
the difference between them? An 
eggshell gloss finish is either called by 
the wrong name or the finish is done 
differently from what the name calls 
for. Have you ever seen an eggshell 
glossy? Take one and look at it. It 
shows an even surface not exactly a 
dead finish but nearly so; therefore 
the proper way to produce an eggshell 
finish would be to rub the varnish flat, 
which will leave a sufficiently glossy 
surface to resemble an eggshell finish. 
This can be done only with oil and 
pumice stone. Generally such finish is 
called a flat or dead finish, whereas in 
part such a finish should not show any 
glossy appearance whatever and with 
a flat or oil varnish this can hardly be 
produced. A spirit varnish would be a 
more proper material for this purpose. 

Eggshell Gloss Finish. 

When an eggshell finish is specified 
it simply means that the varnish 

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should be rubbed to produce a smooth, 
even surface, which is done as follows : 

Procure some fine bolted, powdered 
pumice stone ; place some of it in a 
shallow dish and mix up with water, 
using - about five times as much water, 
in volume, as pumice stone. Further- 
more, procure one or several pieces of 
rubbing" felt which is sold in the better 
class of supply houses. Rubbing felt 
is from one-sixteenth to one-half inch 
in thickness and for straight work or 
large even surfaces the heavier kind is 
used, whereas the thinner sorts are used 
for broken work, such as mouldings, 
etc. 

The felt is dipped into water and 
thoroughly soaked, after which some of 
the pumice stone is taken up with it. 
Now proceed by rubbing with a slight 
pressure, in long even strokes, over the 
surface taking care not to press too 
hard against the edges, to avoid rub- 
bing off the varnish entirely there- 
from, but at the same time keep well 
on the outlying portions of the work, 
because the center parts are always 
continuously touched, which process 
will secure an even working down of 
the surface. Occasionally the felt must 
be dipped into the water and some more 
pumice must be taken up with it. Take 
care not to allow it to get dry on the 
surface. Another good way is to en- 

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close the pumice stone in a coarse 
woven cloth, such as cheese cloth, and 
occasionally to knock this against the 
surface on the hand to remove from it 
the necessary quantity needed. This 
is, no doubt, a better method than 
the former and will keep any grit or 
hard substance from falling onto the 
surface, preventing scratching, which 
is liable to spoil the whole tedious job. 
To find out when the rubbing is to be 
discontinued, wipe over the surface 
with the palm of the hand and examine 
if any unevenness, such as air bubbles, 
pinholes, etc., are still visible. If 
found to be correctly smooth the work 
is done in this stage. The lower por- 
tions of the work, such as panels or 
other deep laying parts, must be rubbed 
first. Care must also be taken not to 
rub through the coatings of the var- 
nish, as in this case such places will 
also show and cannot be removed ex- 
cept by applying another coat of var- 
nish. 

After being convinced of the thor- 
oughness of your work, wash off the 
whitish appearing pumice repeatedly 
with clean water and a soft sponge un- 
til every trace of pumice is removed. 
Should any imperfect places be found 
they, of course, must be gone over in 
the same manner as above described. 

To remove all traces of pumice or 

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ARCHITECTURAL 

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discolorations caused by the water 
used, it is recommended to first wipe 
the surface thoroughly dry with a soft 
chamois skin, then rub over with a drop 
of oil or kerosene and follow it up with 
a good rubbing off of the oil with a 
woolen rag. This process will produce 
a nicely rubbed surface of a semi-glossy 
appearance which is so wrongly called 
an eggshell gloss finish. 

Flat or Dead Finish. 

To produce this finish the same way 
of rubbing as above described must be 
resorted to, with the exception that in- 
stead of water oil is used. The oil 
needed can be crude oil, parafiine, lem 
on or any specially prepared rubbing 
oils, which in most cases is nothing else 
but weak-bodied parafiine oil, scented 
with synthetic or other esesntial oils. 
The pumice stone is used in the same 
manner as for water rubbing. Water 
must not be used in any form. The 
cleaning off is done with kerosene, tur- 
pentine or other oils of a liquid nature 
which will not affect the varnish. A 
good method is to follow the work up 
by wiping off the last traces of oil and 
pumice with a weak solution of alcohol, 
taking about equal parts of water and 
alcohol. In all cases a thorough rub- 
bing off with a soft woolen rag is 
needed before considering the work 
done. 

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Flat Finishes. 



Of late years a good many flat fin- 
ishes ready for use have been intro- 
duced to the trade to save the finisher 
the tedious work of rubbing by simply 
applying such preparations with the 
brush, but such processes are only fol- 
lowed on cheap work or by painters 
who want to get around the proper 
specifications with a view of benefiting 
their own pocket or to underbid other 
competing finishers who may probably 
have figured on the job according to 
specification, which of course is a very 
unscrupulous way of doing business. 

None of those flat finishes produce 
a proper finish, because the unevenness 
of the surface will remain, as those fin- 
ishes are used simply as a last coat and 
any sensible man can detect that class 
of work. Besides, none of those finishes 
will last as long as a rubbed surface, in 
fact a good many of them will show 
white on scratching and chip or blister 
off. Some of the better grades are 
made from a japan base or certain 
grades of gum in a similar way to other 
varnishes, but most of them are a mix- 
ture of wax and varnish. Not a few of 
the finishers are trying to prepare a flat 
finish themselves by simply dissolving 
wax in turpentine and adding the same 
to the varnish, mixing these materials 
by shaking, but this is a very primitive 

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way of doing and absolutely worthless. 
A fair material of this kind can be pro- 
duced as follows : 

How to Make a Flat Finish. 

Take J lb. of pure beeswax, cut into 
small slices or chips and pour over it 
about one quart of spirits of turpentine. 
Let this stand from twenty-four to 
forty-eight hours. After which put it 
in a water bath over a slow fire and let 
it dissolve. A water bath means a pot 
or vessel which contains water and in- 
to which the pot or can containing the 
wax and turpentine is placed to prevent 
the boiling over of the material and 
igniting. In the meantime place a can 
containing about one gallon of a good 
grade of quick drying rubbing varnish 
into another water bath, also heating 
the same slowly and carefully. When 
the wax is fully dissolved and both ma- 
terials are fairly well heated pour both 
together and shake thoroughly. Let 
the mixture cool off and put it aside 
for at least from twenty-four to forty- 
eight hours to settle before using. Be 
careful not to use this preparation too 
heavy but have it quite thin, which can 
be regulated by the amount of turpen- 
tine used in dissolving the wax. This 
will give you as good a material as 
most of them are, but considering the 
danger of making it, including the time, 

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ARCHITECTURAL 

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it is advisable to buy such a material 
when needed from any responsible firm 
which makes such an article a leader of 
their specialties. 

Polishing Varnished Surfaces. 

Polishing - , as well as rubbing of ar- 
chitectural work, of course does not re- 
ceive as usual care as work done on 
high grade furniture or pianos, but 
when polishing is required it needs an 
extra coat of a special polishing var- 
nish which has to be provided by rub- 
bing as before described. After rub- 
bing your last coat of varnish with 
pumice stone and water, cleaning the 
surface thoroughly with a chamois 
skin and giving it sufficient time to al- 
low all water or moisture to dry, you 
apply a so-called flowing coat of a good 
polishing varnish. 

A flowing 1 coat is applied in a some- 
what similar manner to enameling; that 
is the varnish is not worked cross ways 
but applied in long, even strokes with 
a very soft brush and allowed to level 
out without running. At the very least, 
under favorable weather conditions 
four to five days must be allowed 
before you may start the polishing 
which is done in the following way: 

Take finely powdered rotten stone 
and mix the same with either water or 
oil in the same way as using pumice 

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ARCHITECTURAL 

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FINISHING 

for rubbing-. The applying- of the rot- 
ten stone is also done in the same man- 
ner as the pumice stone, with the ex- 
ception that for fine work the palm of 
the hand is used instead of the rubbing 
felt. The use of water is, in my opinion, 
preferable to oil, inasmuch as the re- 
maining material is easier removed, 
which in architectural work is of great 
importance. The rubbing has to be con- 
tinued until the desired gloss is ob- 
tained, after which the remaining rot 
ten stone is carefully removed with 
water or oil respectively and the final 
use of diluted alcohol is necessary to 
prevent any foreign material from re- 
maining on the surface. The use of a 
high grade alcohol is not advisable, 
whereas on furniture work it would be 
required. It will be found that rubbing 
or polishing with water instead of oil 
is more advantageous on varnish which 
has not had the full time to harden. 

[Note. — Owing to its extremely poi- 
sonous character, and its liability to 
permanently affect the eyesight of the 
operator who inhales it or absorbs it 
through the skin, wood finishers are 
particularly cautioned against the use 
of wood alcohol for any purpose what- 
ever. — Editor.] 



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ARCHITECTURAL 

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CHAPTER X. 

Wax Finishing:. 



i t>" 




NUMBER of years ago, when 
^A\ black walnut and other dark 
woods were in style and exten- 
sively used, a waxed finish was 
frequently required in wood finishing; in 
fact, it was necessary in order to obtain 
certain effects, but of late years, owing 
to the exhaustion of the expensive dark 
woods, and as the light colored woods 
are more in vogue, a waxed finish is much 
less frequently demanded, nevertheless it 
is well for the painter or finisher to know 
what to use and how to do it. There are 
various ways of producing a waxed finish 
and to get the various effects desirable. 

One Coat Finish. 

A one coat finish is the simplest of all. 
The wood is smoothed down the same as 
for any other work, with probably a little 
more care, after which the one coat finish 
is applied rather freely with a brush suit- 
able for the purpose; for ordinary work 
a 2y 2 or 3 inch flat brush will do. After 
the finish has had a chance to set or dry, 
which, in most cases, would require from 
4 to 24 hours, the work is rubbed down 
with coarse rags, such as burlap, or still 
better, a piece of heavy Brussels carpet, 
but the most practical tool is a stiff hair 

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ARCHITECTURAL 

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FINISHING 

brush which is made especially for the 
purpose, or which can be substituted by 
a horse or military brush ; one with 
leather backing and a strap across to hold 
it in place is the best. The rubbing must 
be continued until an even surface is pro- 
duced ; such work should be rubbed over 
occasionally to retain the brightness or 
dullness as it may be termed. 

Materials Used. 

The materials to be used are either the 
specialties sold in the market for this 
class of work or any of the so-called floor 
waxes, polishes or finishes which may be 
colored with any high grade dry color to 
suit the requirements, or if preferable the 
finisher may make his own material, for 
which the following formula is about the 
easiest way to follow : 

Take a certain quantity of pure bees- 
wax ; cut it up in small chips and add to 
each }i pound of wax %. gallon of spirits 
of turpentine. Let this digest for from 
one to four davs. Place the vessel in a 
larger vessel filled with water and heat 
slowly, continuously stirring, until all the 
wax is uniformly united with the turps, 
then take it from the fire and let it cool 
off, after which it is ready for use. To 
make a more glossy and harder finish, add 
to each quart of liquid about J4 to V* 
pint of a high grade copal varnish, while 
the material is still on the fire, or at least 

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right afterwards, before cooling off. For 
colored preparations the required colors 
may be added at the same time, or, if 
preferred, at any time after cooling. 
Should the material be too heavy the ad- 
dition of turps, at any time, is of no harm. 
The proper consistency in ordinary sum- 
mer temperature should be of a semi- 
paste or somewhat heavier than a good 
bodied varnish. Other more complicated 
formulas are useless for the finisher to 
lose time about and the products offered 
by reliable firms are generally the cheap- 
est in the end, providing the absence of 
anilin or other easy fading and change- 
able coloring matters is guaranteed. 

A one coat finish, although for some 
work just what is wanted, indicates 
nevertheless a cheap and, for most work, 
an insufficient finish. The one coat fin- 
ish is simply the product of our hustling 
and quick living time; a natural product 
of the object to produce cheap work, done 
in a hurry, with the wrong idea that it 
can easily be changed if you tire of it or if 
unsatisfactory. A fact is, that a one coat 
finish cannot be changed into any other 
finish, but can only be renewed with the 
same material that it originally started 
with. The reason for this is the presence 
and rubbing into the wood of the wax and 
such other greasy material as may be con- 
tained in the various brands of those fin- 
ishes. The removal of waxy and greasy 

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ARCHITECTURAL 

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substances out of the pores of the wood 
is a practical impossibility or will be more 
expensive than the job will allow. 
Every finisher will agree that shellac, 
varnish, or kindred materials will never 
prove satisfactory if applied on such sur- 
faces, therefore it is advised not to be too 
much in favor of one coat finishes. 

Other Than One Coat Finishes. 

The proper way of producing a wax 
finish is to build your work up the same 
way as for other finished work. All work 
which is to be stained should be stained 
before anything else is applied. See 
Chapter III. After staining, the wood 
may be treated with wax, if the wood is 
of the open pored or hardwood variety, 
and the natural condition of the wood is 
to be preserved, such as in antique fin- 
ishes, but otherwise and if done on soft 
or close grained wood a coat of the 
best shellac is required before waxing. 
Sandpapering should not be done before 
but always after shellacking, to avoid 
specks, except in deep colored work a 
second coat of stain is used ; furthermore 
a much finer surface is produced if sand- 
papering is done after shellacking. Shel- 
lac is recommended and preferable to var- 
nish on all floor work for the reason that 
the best varnish is liable to soften under 
wax, and in cases where time is limited 
the improperly dried varnish will not al- 

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low the application and final rubbing of 
the wax. 

Should it be desired not to have too 
much of a body on the wood a very thin 
coat of shellac should be applied, where- 
as otherwise two coats are preferable to 
a single heavy coat. Shellacking will al- 
low the proper spreading and working 
out of the wax, and most important of all 
it will allow the entire cleaning off of 
the wax in case a change in the finish is 
desired, with the advantage of having an 
undercoating for the new finish, the 
cleaning in that case should be done with 
turps with a final washing off with alco- 
tol to remove the last traces of wax. 



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CHAPTER XI. 

Floor Finishing. 

LOORS are finished in various 
styles to suit the usage. The 
most ordinary and cheapest is 
oiling with a non-drying min- 
eral oil. New floors treated in that way 
need a frequent renewa 1 of the oil until 
the wood is thoroughly saturated with 
the oil and commences 10 show a finished 
surface when the oiling may be done less 
frequently. Care must be taken to re- 
move all oil not absorbed by the wood 
with a woolen rag to prevent soiling of 
dresses. 

Another way of finishing new floors is 
to sandpaper first, then give it a treatment 
of paste filler. After thorough drying 
one or two thin coats of shellac are to 
be applied, sandpaper between coats 
and a final rubbing off with a 
non-drying mineral oil or a wax 
treatment is required to prevent the 
wearing off of the shellac. Grain alco- 
hol shellac of good quality should be 
the proper material. Varnishing of floors 
is a poor treatment, as the best varnish 
will easily wear off or soften under the 
oil and wax treatment and will show an 
unsightly watery gloss and in a short 
time a dirty appearance. Its refinishing 
is also more expensive and complicated 

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and its original expense is practically the 
same, besides having the disadvantage of 
the discontinuance of the use of the floor 
for about 48 hours, which, in inhabited 
buildings, would be an impossibility. 
Furthermore, the lasting qualities of var- 
nished, against shellacked, floors, will be 
very noticeable. The preparation and 
use of shellacs have also been previously 
described under the same heading. 

Waxing Floors. 

There are various methods of waxing 
floors which all culminate in the same 
principal point and that is the final rub- 
bing or polishing of the waxed surface. 
A very superior method is the working in 
or polishing of the wax with the well- 
known waxing brush, which ought to be 
found in every shop, but in rural dis- 
tricts where this work is infrequently 
done an improvised waxing apparatus 
may be of good service. Take any ordi- 
nary box or board of about six by ten 
inches in size; cover the lower part with 
a good piece of carpet, fasten a handle to 
the box and weight the same with any 
heavy article, such as flat irons, stones, 
bricks, etc. Apply your prepared wax 
as above described and after giving a cer- 
tain time to drv commence polishing by 
pushing the brush or box systematically 
over the floor until the proper polish is 
obtained. A medium-sized floor of 200 

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ARCHITECTURAL 

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to 250 square feet would require 3 to 4 
hours' work, but it is generally consid- 
ered finished after 30 minutes' polishing, 
which is entirely insufficient. This 
method should be repeated according to 
the wear and use of the floor, weekly or 
bi-weekly, which no doubt is expensive 
and troublesome, therefore an occasional 
application of a little oil properly rubbed 
off will answer in most cases and is pre- 
ferred by the customers for its cheapness. 

French Style. 

The French way of finishing floors is, 
without regards to the kind of wood used, 
an application and polishing of wax with- 
out previous use of wood fillers, shellacs, 
varnishes, etc. For refinishing this kind 
of work the following process is used : 

The floor is first thoroughly cleaned 
with turpentine and afterwards rubbed 
down with coarse steel shavings by foot- 
work, which is done as follows : Take a 
good handful of steel shavings and place 
the same under the sole of your right foot 
after you have removed your shoes. 
Start in one corner and with a slight pres- 
sure move your foot forward and back, 
balancing yourself on the left foot, work- 
ing systematically over the floor by taking 
strips across of about one and one-half to 
two feet, and after covering the floor start 
on the opposite corner, working your way 
the same way diagonally to the first move- 

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ment. Continue until the floor looks per- 
fectly clean, using a little more pressure 
on uneven or dirty looking places. The 
after treatment is the regular wax treat- 
ment, as above described. No doubt the 
same style in cleaning can be used on 
shellacked or filled or varnished floors. 

The most important point in floor fin- 
ishing to remember is that the best and 
most expensive materials are none too 
good, therefore be careful not to under- 
estimate your job. 



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CHAPTER XII. 

Finishing of Fireproofed Wood. 

HE finishing of fireproofed 
wood is one of the latest prob- 
lems to be solved by the wood 
finishers. Most of the fire- 
proofing materials or chemicals with 
which the wood is saturated to make 
it fireproof are secretly guarded and 
therein lies the difficulty in solving the 
problem — that is, to find an antidote 
which will prevent these chemicals 
from spoiling the finish. The bases of 
most fireproofing chemicals are salts 
and alkalies, such as the products of 
the sodas, borax, ammoniums, alums 
and lime. Some of those chemicals re- 
quire different neutralizes than others 
and, not knowing with what the wood 
to be finished had been treated, it is 
certainly impossible to apply the prop 
er remedy. Another difficulty lies in 
the fact that a neutralizer used may 
render the fireproofing material inef- 
fective, change its action and undo the 
work, and possibly even increase its 
inflammability. 

Result and Actions of Fireproof Ma- 
terials. 

All hardwoods containing tannic 
acid in the smallest degree undergo a 

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ARCHITECTURAL 

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chemical action when subjected to fire- 
proofing". The most noticeable is the 
discoloration caused by the process; 
also the swelling of the pores and fib- 
ers, rendering a proper Flemish oak 
and similar finish impossible. A fire- 
proofed wood can never be finished in 
its natural color for this very reason. 

If fireproofed wood has been proper- 
ly dried out and afterward is kept dry, 
the effect on the finish may not be no- 
ticeable to any great extent, but it is 
almost impossible to keep it dry. Moist 
air or rainy weather will act on it and 
the most important reason is found hi 
the fact that the wood absorbs consid- 
erable moisture from the walls of new 
buildings because the woodwork is 
placed in store in those new 
buildings long before it is needed, 
and finally the trim is put up 
right after the plastering is fin- 
ished and in a good many cases before 
that. The trouble would not be so 
great in frame buildings, or other 
buildings of light construction ; but 
there fireproofed wood is not required, 
and in so-called fireproof buildings the 
heavy foundation and solid wails and 
masonry in general require years be- 
fore all moisture has escaped from it, 
if it ever does so. The writer had oc- 
casion to study the trouble closely in 
one of the largest buildings in New 

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ARCHITECTURAL 

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York City, where he was called in to 
give his opinion how the difficulty 
could be remedied. In this particular 
case the woodwork, or at least the 
most part of it, was completely fin- 
ished. All along the edges where the 
wood came in contact with thejwalls 
the varnish was discolored or softened, 
or in rooms where heat was used to 
force drying the varnish cracked and 
stripped off. A remedy in such a case 
is, of course, impossible except the var- 
nish is entirely removed ; at the very 
best, the finisher should never guaran- 
tee any work done on fireproof ed wood, 
and especially not in cases of refinish- 
ing work, as above described, taking 
for granted that he uses the proper ar- 
ticles. For reasons stated in the be- 
ginning, he does not know which are 
the right ones ; he may be able to make 
a passable job, but the trouble will 
surely show at the first opportunity 
All treatments tried up to date, with- 
out consideration of cost, have proved 
a failure in the case of finishing fire- 
proofed wood, and especially such as 
used in building war and other vessels. 

Remedies to Prevent Damages. 

The invention of any material to suc- 
cessfully remedy the effect of fireproof- 
ing materials on finished woodwork 
would no doubt endear the inventor to 

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ARCHITECTURAL 

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the hearts of the finisher and builder 
and besides bring him a substantial re- 
muneration, pro\iding he is able to se- 
cure a number of patents to prevenc 
any possible change of formula by 
others, with the object of imitation. 

The most favorable chemical which 
could be used for the purpose is acetic 
acid, which has the advantage of be- 
ing entirely harmless to the workmen, 
non-inflammable and non-poisonous. 
But as it will act destructively on all 
kinds of metals and especially iron, it 
should be used before locks, hinges or 
other metal parts are fastened to the 
wood. 

Next in order as neutralizers comes 
oxalic acid, which is very poisonous, 
but non-inflammable and not quite as 
harmful to metals as the former. To 
use oxalic acid or any other chemical 
for the purpose of bleaching out the 
discoloration caused by the fireproof- 
ing would be lost time and effort, be- 
cause the wood will darken again in a 
short time and probably show a streaky 
or uneven appearance. Other neutral- 
izers, such as ferrosulphide (copperas), 
hydrochloric (muriatic) acid, also ni- 
tric or sulphuric acids, are liable to 
cause more harm than they will do 
good, and therefore they should be left 
out of the question. Oxalic and acetic 
acid, properly dissolved in boiling wa- 
ter, are about as good neutralizers as 

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ARCHITECTURAL 

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can be had for the purpose and still, in 
most cases, they cannot be used, while 
for other reasons they should not be 
used, and at the best are only of small 
importance. The mixture of those 
acids for use should be as follows : 
Take boiling water, dissolve as much 
oxalic acid as the water will take up ; 
add to it about one-fourth in volume 
of acetic acid and an addition of a lim- 
ited quantity of powdered alum may be 
made. This preparation should be ap- 
plied to the woodwork in at least two 
applications, and after drying must be 
properly sponged off. In applying be 
sure to commence on the lower parts 
of the wood, working your way up to 
avoid streaks ; the sandpapering of the 
woodwork should be done after a coat 
of shellac or varnish has been applied, 
except in cases where the wood is to be 
filled ; then it is preferable to do the 
sandpapering first. 

On all work done on fireproofed 
wood a coat of shellac, either before 
or after filling, is recommended, ex- 
cept in case where the highest grade of 
hard copal varnish is used as first and 
finish coat, and still shellac (grain 
alcohol) is preferable. 

In cases where water glass (silicate 
of soda) is used for fireproofing an ad- 
ditional difficulty is caused by the fact 
that water glass is not entirely ab- 
sorbed by the wood,but lays on the sur- 

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ARCHITECTURAL 

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face, acting in fact as a first coater, but 
causing havoc to all finishes subse- 
quently used. Careful consideration of 
circumstances and the use of common 
sense in doing the work will help to 
overcome some of the troubles in a 
slight degree, but to actually make a 
sure job of it is, at best, an imaginary 
proposition and therefore be careful 
not to guarantee any of this class of 
work, not even until it is supposed to 
be finished ready for inspection and de- 
livery. 



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CHAPTER XIII. 

Refinishing. 

FTER having thoroughly dis- 
cussed all phases of finishing 
new work, it is not a small 
item to know something about 
refinishing old work, especially to those 
who have not had extensive experience 
in that line with the innumerable new 
articles manufactured for this purpose. 
First in the line of refinishing belongs 

Touching Up. 

Touching up old work is without a 
question an important item and has 
been very little discussed. A good job 
of touching up will save the finisher, at 
times, a good many dollars. Touching 
up of old work has generally been re- 
garded as a job to be done by appren- 
tice boys, whereas it requires not alone 
a fullfledged mechanic, able to handle 
the brush, but an artisan fully able to 
mix the right colors not only of the 
wood but also to imitate in color, the 
aged varnish so that after a finishing 
coat of varnish is applied to the 
touched up part of the wood, the 
spot will not be visible to an ex- 
amining eye. If the varnish has 
chipped off and a touching up 

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'ARCHITECTURAL 

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is required, a thorough sandpaper- 
ing is needed. After that take your 
stainers, put on your thinking cap and 
with a certain degree of knowledge, you 
should either match the color of the 
wood or make it considerably darker. 
Afterwards apply it to those places 
where it is needed, wipe off the surplus 
stain, so as just to leave enough color 
to give it an even looking appearance. 
Around door knobs, where the finish is 
generally darkened by dirt from hand- 
ling, you may have to remove a certain 
space. The proper way of doing that 
is to run a mark on the top and bottom 
respectively, after which you have to 
remove carefully the old varnish be- 
tween these marks. 

Subsequently you apply the stain the 
same way as on the other places, and 
if by wiping off you should fail to pro- 
duce the required effect, you may gain 
this by applying the stain with a brush, 
properly cutting in on the marks and 
evenly brushing out. In a good many 
cases an application of orange shellac 
will bring out the necessary color. Be- 
fore applying 1 the finishing coat it may 
be advisable to put on an extra cost of 
varnish, again carefully cutting in. 
Very satisfactory results may be ob- 
tained on all touching up jobs by the 
application of a so-called flat varnish 
or flat finish. 

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ARCHITECTURAL 

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Refinishing Old Varnished Surfaces. 

The process of refinishing old varn- 
ished surfaces has, in the last few years, 
been greatly changed on account of new 
materials, which have been invented 
and placed in the market for that pur- 
pose, and generally known under the 
name of "removers." Before discussing 
the use of these removers, it is very es- 
sential for the finisher to know their na- 
ture. 

Alkali Removers. 

The older of these removers were 
prepared, as an alkali base, such as com- 
pounds of soda, potash, lime, ammonia, 
etc., combined with other ingredients, 
either to reduce their strength, or pre- 
vent their after-effects on subsequent 
finishes. Although those removers 
have been generally regarded as paint 
removers, they also have found consid- 
erable use as varnish removers, before 
the introduction of the so-called neutral 
removers, which are of later origin. 
Alkali removers have the preference of 
most of the neutral removers on ac- 
count of their non-inflammability and 
their non-poisonous character, but by 
reason of their careless use in the hands 
of incompetent workmen have proved 
to be very destructive to vegetable 
fibres. Furthermore, their chemical ac- 

page eighty-five 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

tion in darkening all woods, containing 
tannic acid, required a subsequent 
bleaching of those woods, and therefore 
such removers have become unpopular. 

Neutral Removers. 

By neutral removers we understand 
a material which is powerful enough 
to dissolve hardened oils and gums 
without injuring the wood and brushes. 
Stiil up-to-date those neutral removers 
are not perfect. The first experiments 
with neutral removers were made on 
the creosote and carbolic basis; al- 
though of disinfecting nature, their 
odor has barred them from all interior 
work. Their destructive action on the 
workman's hands has made their use 
impossible, but the main reason for 
their disappearance from the market 
was the fact that the destructive action 
of remaining traces of such remover 
in crevices, on subsequent finishes could 
not be stopped, because it is a well- 
known fact, that chemistry has failed 
to produce a neutralizer for creosote or 
carbolic acid. 

After discarding the creosotes as sol- 
vents, experiments were made with 
products, derived from fusel oils. The 
most important of those is known as 
"arriyl acetate," or on account of its odor 
generally known under the name of 
"banana liquid." This product was con- 

page eighty-six 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

sidered for a time the acme of removers. 
Its penetrating- odor and its fatal in- 
fluence on persons troubled with heart 
and pulmonary diseases, also its poison- 
ous character has been instrumental in 
preventing it from becoming- popular; 
another reason for giving- up this ma- 
terial as a solvent agent was the 
scarcity of it in this country and the ex- 
orbitant price at which it was sold. 
The demand for neutral removers hav- 
ing- become so great by that time that 
unlimited quantities had to be produced 
and the importation of "amyl acetate" 
from Europe was connected with un- 
foreseen delays and high custom 
charg-es. Therefore amyl acetate re- 
movers have also become an article of 
the past. 

Bi-Sulphide of Carbon. 

The most dangerous material of any- 
thing- ever offered to the trade under the 
g-uise of "Paint and Varnish Removers" 
was introduced by unscrupulous manu- 
facturers with the object of gain. The 
cheapness, powerful solvent properties 
and apparent harmlessness were con- 
sidered ideal points of value for the use 
of bi-sulphide of carbon in the manu- 
facture of removers. The use of this 
material should have been prohibited 
by the authorities ; nothing too strong 
can be said against its use and in the fol- 

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ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

lowing will be given a few points as 
to the danger and the detection of its 
presence. 

Bi-sulphide of carbon is known to 
chemistry as the most dangerous and 
treacherous poison and explosive. Its 
explosive power will be shown by its 
expansion in the proportion of I to 16. 
That means that one cubic foot of bi- 
sulphide of carbon will form 16 cubic 
feet of gas, which is a higher percent- 
age than of any other gaseous liquid 
known. Another dangerous feature is 
its low flash point, which is below zero ; 
that means that bi-sulphide of carbon 
will form gas below this low tempera- 
ture and cause explosion if brought in 
contact with flame. For this reason bi- 
sulphide of carbon is sold under restric- 
tion in air-tight iron drums and is not 
allowed to enter large cities, except in 
limited quantities. It is easy to manu- 
facture and can be produced at about 
I J cents per pound, while it is sold in 
the market in large quantities at from 
4i to 5 cents per pound. The solvent 
power of bi-sulphide of carbon is also of 
the highest degree, known to be of a 
strength of 5,000. That means that 1 
part in volume or weight will dissolve 
in volume or weight 5,000 parts of ani- 
mal matter or tissue. As an example, 
should you take the 1-5,000 part of the 
amount of blood in your body and in- 

page eighty-eight 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

jected it into your veins, it will dissolve 
or decompose your entire system. This 
also would be the fact if the same 
amount of bi-sulphide of carbon is taken 
up in your system by inhalation. There 
have been and are to-day, materials in 
the market sold under the name of re- 
movers which contain up to 50 per cent, 
of bi-sulphide of carbon, labelled as 
harmless and without any "caution 
sign." 

To detect bi-sulphide of carbon in re- 
movers is almost impossible by the lay- 
man or mechanic. The most common 
way of detection is the smell, which re- 
sembles the smell of black radishes. 
Another way of detecting- it is by the 
weight, as bi-sulphide of carbon weighs 
from 12 to 14 pounds per gallon ; any or- 
dinary remover weighs from 7 to 8 
pounds per gallon. It is recommended 
to reject all removers above that 
weight. Another test to find out the 
danger of any remover is by placing a 
small quantity of it in a receptacle and 
under ordinary temperature of from 60 
to 80 degrees F., holding an open light 
about one inch above it. Should the 
suspected remover ignite under these 
circumstances it is advisable to reject it. 

The effect of bi-sulphide of carbon on 
the human system is shown by dullness 
of the brain, loss of appetite, vomiting, 
tired and breaking down feeling, diffi- 

page eighty-nine 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 



cult breathing, darkening of the blood 
and a final decomposing or dissolution 
of the entire system. 

Other Materials Used in the Manu- 
facture of Removers. 

Hydro-carbons, methyl and amyl ace- 
tates or spirits, which are under or over 
distillations of alcohols. Acetone, etc., 
are used in connection with benzin, 
naphtha, wood alcohol, waxes, etc., and 
in a good many cases bi-sulphide of car- 
bon, to make up a commercial article. 
Continuous use of some of them have 
proven their harmlessness. No doubt 
the near future will bring us a material 
which will be generally used for this 
class of work, as it is shown by the im- 
mense use of the existing materials that 
removers have become a necessary ar- 
ticle for the shop. 

How to Use an Alkali Remover. 

Alkali removers may be used on 
white wood, pine and all other light 
woods with satisfaction, except when 
shellac was used as a finishing material, 
because an alkali is a slow solvent for 
shellac, but on wood which has been 
previously painted and is to be finished 
natural, the use of an alkali remover is 
essential. Apply a coat of remover 
evenly to a surface of about two square 

page ninety 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

yards, repeat the application once or 
twice more, and after being sure that 
all old finish has been dissolved, remove 
all material, as much as possible, with a 
broad or putty knife, after which wash 
off with clean water and renew the 
water as often as needed until you are 
sure that all trace of the remover has 
gone. For application use a grass or 
fibre brush, and it is recommended to 
rub some vaseline over your hands to 
protect them. To render all remover 
powerless which may, through careless- 
ness or for other reason have been left 
in crevices, moldings, etc., it is advis- 
able to apply a neutralizer which in 
such cases where the wood has been 
darkened may be made to act as a 
bleacher. Before refinishing such work 
it is preferable to apply a coat of shellac 
previous to sandpapering, to produce a 
smooth surface. Under no circum- 
stance must such remover be left on 
any longer than it requires to dissolve 
the old coatings. 

Bleaching of Wood. 

Bleaching of wood is done by apply- 
ing solution of divers chemicals to the 
discolored surface, and the most com- 
monly known agents or bleachers are 
as follows : 

I. Vinegar, or acetic acid. 

page ninety-one 



ARCHITECTURAL 

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FINISHING 

2. Oxalic acid, dissolved in hot water 
about one pound to the gallon, to which 
vinegar or acid may be added, applied 
hot, if needed. 

3. Muriatic or hydrochloric acid, 
which is cut with zinc and diluted with 
water. 

4. Nitric acid diluted with water and 
connected with No. 3. 

5. Sulphuric acid, diluted with water, 
and if desired mixed with No. 3 or No. 
4, or both of them. 

For very obstinate cases a repeated 
application of the bleacher is required 
until remover is assured. 

All bleachers must be thoroughly 
washed off from the surface after dry- 
ing or treated with vinegar or diluted 
acetic acid. 

Sufficient time must be allowed for 
drying before starting with the finish- 
ing coats. 

Neutral removers are divided into two 
classes, the liquid and semi-paste re- 
movers, and each requires a different 
method of using. Liquid removers are 
simple in their use, but not as practical 
as the semi-paste. In using liquid re- 
movers all you need to do is to apply 
them on a small surface, and continue 
until the varnish is softened, after 
which clean off and use some of the re- 
mover on a rag or waste for a final 

page ninety-two 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

cleaning. But liquid removers will 
evaporate quickly and therefore must 
be applied more often than when we 
use semi-paste removers, and a smaller 
surface only can be covered at one time, 
therefore the use of liquid removers is 
more expensive. 

Semi-Paste Removers 

The proper consistency of a remover 
should be about that of a heavy var- 
nish in ordinary temperature. All neu- 
tral removers will flow more freely in 
warm weather and thicken consider- 
ably in cold weather, owing to the 
waxy nature of their ingredients, but 
be cautious not to place a thickened 
remover near a heated stove or open 
fire for the purpose of thinning it, but 
in all cases take a pail with hot water 
and place the can in it for about 20 to 
30 minutes, which will be a safer un- 
dertaking. Smoking or the burning of 
open lights while using neutral remov- 
ers must be strictly prohibited, and 
also you must be sure to have suf- 
ficient change of air by keeping the 
windows and doors open to prevent 
gases from accumulating, thereby les- 
sening the danger of explosion. On 
starting the work, divide the surface 
to be done into certain sections. On 
panel work take about two to three 
square yards at a time; on ordinary 

page ninety-three 



ARCHITECTURAL 

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FINISHING 

work take about one door and frame 
or one window and frame. On floors 
take a strip about two feet across the 
room. 

Use a soft brush for laying" on the 
remover, and apply freely over the 
whole surface. After a few minutes 
time, apply a second coat, and if this 
should not be enough to soften the var- 
nish, repeat it. Attention may be called 
to the fact that you cannot soften in- 
numerable coatings of old varnish with 
a single application of remover. An- 
other point is to give the remover suf- 
ficient time to do its work and do not 
try to clean off after the first coat, but 
let the remover remain long enough 
until everything is dissolved down to 
the bare surface before cleaning- off. 
After three to four applications and 
about ten to twenty minutes time, 
should the remover fail to do its work, 
you may safely reject it as unfit and 
try some other brand. To clean off the 
softened material, take a broad knife 
or the regular scraping tool and deposit 
all the waste material in an old pail or 
can. The use of benzine or turpentine 
for cleaning off may, in most cases, be 
found inefficient. Alcohol will always 
be found the best and the cheapest, at 
least after using- benzine or turpentine, 
you will have to use the alcohol for a 
final cleaning to remove all traces of 

page ninety-four 



ARCHITECTURAL 

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FINISHING 

grease or fat, otherwise subsequent 
coatings are liable to scale or chip off 
on account of the greasy nature the 
wood will be in, which, with the use of 
benzine or turpentine cannot be reme- 
died. 

Should the wood previous to clean- 
ing have been darkened by water, it 
will be found utterly impossible to ap- 
ply any bleaching material unless alco- 
hol is used for cleaning, and in some 
cases a washing with weak ammonia 
or soap powder, such as Pearline or 
Gold Dust, will be found necessary. 

On all work where the use of bleach- 
er is not required, the refinishing may 
be begun in any desired manner after 
a slight sandpapering or rubbing down 
with steel-wool. On such work, where 
a bleacher has been used, more care is 
to be taken. In the first place, the 
bleacher must be washed off, for which 
purpose weak vinegar is always prefer- 
able to anything else. After the wood 
has been allowed to dry, and before 
sandpapering, apply a very thin coat 
of shellac. This will give you a bet- 
ter and harder surface to do your sand- 
papering and a smooth job will be the 
result. 

The use of wood filler on cleaned off 
surfaces may be omitted, as the pores 
of the wood are, as a rule, sufficiently 
clogged up to prevent the filler from 

page ninety-five 



ARCHITECTURAL 

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FINISHING 

entering-. Colored wood filler must not 
be used, especially not on surfaces 
which have been bleached, because the 
spongy nature of wood treated in that 
manner will make an uneven and spot- 
ted job. If it is required to give the 
wood a stained effect, a high grade 
stain, as previously described, will 
make a perfect job. 



page ninety-six 



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FINISHING 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Piano Finishing. 

N the following chapter we will 
try to give a general idea about 
piano finishing, but, of course, 
this class of work, being compli- 
cated and requiring great skill, cannot 
be mastered by simply reading about 
it, but its fine points must be acquired 
by strenuous and extensive experience. 
First of all, the wood must be 
smoothed down as much as it possibly 
can be done; all abrasions or dents, 
scratches, etc., will show through the 
finish and mar the general appearance. 
Furthermore, the best* materials money 
can buy must be used. Lastly, suffi- 
cient manual labor and common sense 
in doing the work is essential to pro- 
duce the high-grade finish required. 

To begin with, you will have to start 
by smoothing the surface with a flat 
steel scraper, such as cabinet makers 
use, or grind it down with pumice 
stone and water, for which purpose the 
imported manufactured brick pumice 
stone is preferable. Follow this up 
with fine sandpaper or steel wool. 

If the wood is to be stained, do not 
use aniline stains, but a purely vegeta- 
ble dye or chemical stain. Apply two 

parte ninety-seven 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

coats of stain, at the least, to prevent 
little white dots showing after sand- 
papering, as one coat of stains will not 
penetrate enough and will lack uni- 
formity in color. After staining sand- 
paper again, but do not use steel wool, 
as it affects the chemicals used in the 
stains. 

If the wood is not to be stained, or 
after it has been stained, fill the pores 
with a pure silex wood filler in paste 
form, either colored to match the stain 
or to suit the requirements of taste. 
Paste filler should always be used, 
without regard to the nature of the 
wood being closely grained or open 
pored. 

After filling the wood allow at least 
forty-eight hours for proper drying, 
and use fine sandpaper again, taking 
care not to rub down the edges of the 
wood. Steel wool must not be used, as 
it will show black streaks caused by 
the crystal used in the filler. Should 
you be satisfied that you have produced 
a perfectly smooth surface, you may go 
ahead with the varnishing; if not, an- 
other coat of filler is required. 

For varnishing use a iirst-class rub- 
bing varnish. The same must be uni- 
form in all respects, not too heavy and 
sufficiently aged. The varnish must be 
kept in the finishing room at least 
twenty-four hours before using to at- 

page ninety-eight 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

tain the proper temperature, and must 
not be shaken when pouring out into 
the varnishing pot. Any varnish re- 
maining after finishing work must not 
be poured back into the can, but can be 
used for any other class of work. Good 
varnish should never be thinned with 
turpentine, but must be used as the 
manufacturer produces it. 

Brushes must be perfectly clean, and 
should be kept in turpentine, when not 
in use, to keep them soft. Before using 
the brushes rub them perfectly dry on 
a piece of board, but do not heat them 
over the edge, as you are liable to loos- 
en the bristles, for which you may 
blame the brush maker. If a new 
brush is to be used, twirl it between 
your hands, holding it vertical, and dip 
it in turpentine before using, rubbing 
out the turpentine again. The best 
thing to do is to break a new brush in 
on some other work before using on a 
piano. 

The varnishing room must be kept 
at a temperature of at least 70 deg. 
Fahrenheit, and must be dustproof. 

Apply the first coat of rubbing var- 
nish with a beveled oval brush, size 
about 6-0 or 7-0. Lay the varnish on 
evenly and brush in well. Let it dry 
for six or seven days, then sandpaper 
lightly with fine-grade paper and apply 
the second coat. Treat the same as 

page ninety-nine 

L0F& 



ARCHITECTURAL 

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FINISHING 



the first coat and continue until you 
have from four to six coats applied, 
using always the same brush, the same 
varnish, the same length of time be- 
tween coats and sandpaper each coat 
more lightly. Steel wool of a fine 
grade can be used for this purpose. 
Before revarnishing it must be ob- 
served that the varnish does not gum 
under the sandpaper, otherwise an ex- 
tra day or two must be allowed for 
drying. After satisfying yourself that 
a sufficient quantity of varnish is ap- 
plied, rub the last coat with pumice 
stone and water and a piece of rubbing 
felt, such as can be bought in the sup- 
ply stores for this class of work. A 
fine powdered pumice stone must be 
used, and, to make sure that it is with- 
out grit, bolt it through a fine sieve 
made of cheesecloth. In rubbing, care 
must be taken of the edges, and also 
not to use too much pressure, in order 
to prevent rubbing through the var- 
nish. All surfaces must be perfectly 
smooth, brush marks must disappear, 
and all uneven parts must be perfectly 
level. This work requires great skill 
and years of experience, which cannot 
be attained in a few trials, but must be 
a natural gift of judgment. After rub- 
bing down, a thorough sponging off 
with clean water is needed, which 
should be followed up by a rubbing dry 

page one hundred 



ARCHITECTURAL 

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FINISHING 

with chamois skin. Should you find 
that, after cleaning off, the varnish has 
been partly rubbed through, another 
coat of varnish must be given, and 
once more it must be slightly and more 
carefully rubbed with pumice and 
water. 

After assuring } r ourself of a perfect 
job, apply a leveling coat of the finest 
piano polishing varnish under the same 
conditions as above, using the varnish 
more freely, but avoid running. This 
is called a flowing coat. For this work 
use a triple thick, soft, flat hair brush, 
metal bound, about three inches wide. 
Seven days at least must be allowed 
for drying, and after that it has to be 
rubbed with powdered rotten stone and 
water, using the palm of your hand, 
which must be soft and adapted for 
the purpose. This rubbing must be 
continued until the desired polish is 
obtained, and, should this fail, another 
flowing coat of varnish must be given 
and rubbed again. After rubbing with 
rotten stone wash off perfectly clean 
and follow the rubbing with a few 
drops of rubbing oil placed on the palm 
of your hand. No proper piano polish 
can be obtained with less than six or 
seven coats of varnish. To take off 
the bloom of the varnish or the remain- 
ing oil you have to follow this up 
with a slight rubbing over with grain 

page one hundred and one 



ARCHITECTURAL 

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FINISHING 

alcohol used in a pad, which procedure 
will also bring out the luster more 
strikingly, but this is a very dangerous 
job. The slightest pressure or allow- 
ing the pad to remain an instant in one 
place, especially in turning the cor- 
ners, is liable to undo the whole trou- 
blesome work, and may compel you 
to start all over again. To do this al- 
cohol rubbing, continue as follows : 
Take a bunch of cotton wadding, soak 
it slightly in grain alcohol and cover 
quickly with an old, washed-out piece 
of very fine linen cloth. Take the pad 
so formed firmly between your fingers 
and thumb and skip over the surface 
as fast as possible without turning the 
corners until the alcohol is partly used 
up. This will produce the finest finish 
possible; but my advice is that if you 
are not experienced enough to under- 
take this kind of work, try yourself 
out at first on some ordinary work be- 
fore taking chances of ruining a job 
so tedious and painful as the finishing 
of a piano. 



page one hundred and two 




ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 



CHAPTER XV. 

Best Method of Using Water Stains. 

,HE following chapter was orig- 
inally written as an answer to 
a question referred to The 
Painters Magazine by the 
Twenty-first Annual Convention of the 
International Association of Master 
House Painters and Decorators of the 
United States and Canada, held at Mil- 
waukee, Wis., February 7 to 10, 1905 : 

"What is the best method of using 
water stains on oak, birch and other 
woods, and the best method of over- 
coming the raising of the grain?" 

Before entering into the subject of 
methods for application, it seems ap- 
propriate that we should first go into 
the various methods of preparing water 
stains. Since the acid and alkali stains 
and water stains made from soluble 
anilines and other coal tar derivatives 
have found their way into commerce, 
wood finishers have found it convenient 
to make use of these for the sake of 
economv and convenience, but on ac- 
count of their lack of permanence we 
would strongly recommend that house 
painters and decorators, in finishing 
interior woodwork, wherever water 
stains are admissible or convenient, to 

page one hundred and three 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

adhere to the use of those made from 
vegetable matter by decoction or from 
lakes that are known to be permanent 
in color. Where a partial obscuring- of 
the grain of the wood is not objected 
to, such materials or pigments as Van 
Dyke brown, burnt umber, burnt and 
raw sienna, rose pink, etc., may be em- 
ployed, but these should be of impal- 
pable fineness and of the richest tone 
possible. In order to make water stains 
penetrate into the wood as far as pos- 
sible it is necessary to make the water 
alkaline or slightly acid, and while 
these additions tend to raise the grain 
of the wood more than would be done 
by ordinary water, there is a method 
to overcome or minimize this bad ef- 
fect, as we will see later on. We are, 
in the following, giving one or more 
formulas for making water stains of 
known merit that will serve to imitate 
the color of the woods named, but, as 
a matter of course, it is for the opera- 
tor to use them on such woods as are 
most similar in grain or such as have 
no prominent grain at all. For in- 
stance, it would be folly to stain yellow 
pine of a mahogany color and try to 
pass it off for the genuine article. On 
the other hand, cherry can be readily 
stained and given the effect of walnut 
by a stain made from Van Dyke brown 
and burnt umber. 

page one hundred cmd four 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

Light Oak Stain. This may be 
made by dissolving one pound picric 
acid in one-half gallon of water, add- 
ing a mixture of one pound of soluble 
Van Dyke brown in three quarts of 
water, and when stirred together, one- 
half pint ammonia is added ; the am- 
monia should be 18 deg. The stain 
should be applied as warm as possible 
with an ordinary whitewash brush or 
a swab of cotton, as it will injure the 
bristle brushes. The addition of one 
pint of turpentine to the above quan- 
tity of stain will prevent the raising of 
the grain. 

Dark Oak Stain. One pound burnt 
umber is mixed with sufficient aqua 
ammonia of 16 deg. or 18 deg. to a 
stiff paste and then thinned with water 
to the required consistence. This 
done, it is strained through cheese cloth 
and before use it is heated until it be- 
gins to steam, when one-half pint of 
turpentine should be added to prevent 
the stain from raising the grain. 

Another Dark Oak Stain is made by 
dissolving 12 ounces soluble Van Dyke 
brown in one gallon of water, adding 
one pint of aqua ammonia of 16 deg. 
to 18 deg. This should also be heated 
and have at least one-half pint tur- 
pentine added to prevent the raising 
of the grain. 

page one hundred and five 



ARCHITECTURAL 

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Cherry Stain. One pound annatto 
boiled for thirty minutes in two gal- 
lons of water, to which one ounce of 
caustic soda or potash has been added, 
will produce a light cherry stain. If 
wanted darker, boil it until strong- 
enough. To one-half gallon of the stain 
add one gill of aqua ammonia and one- 
half gill of turpentine, By boiling 
one-quarter Braxil wood chips with 
the above a deeper stain will result. 

Another Cherry Stain is made by 
boiling in one gallon of water one-hali 
pound of madder root and 2 ounces 
logwood chips, until the desired 
strength is attained. When using the 
stain add one-half pint aqua ammonia 
and one-quarter pint turpentine. Ap- 
ply warm. 

Mahogany Stain can be made in va- 
rious ways. The following formula 
makes a rich and effective one. 4 
ounces walnut, 2^2 ounces crimson 
crystals, 2 ounces red, all of which are 
soluble aniline dye, 8 ounces aqua am- 
monia and 2 gallons water are slowly 
boiled until the crystals are dissolved 
and the liquor is strained. When about 
to use, warm the stain and add to every 
quart of it one gill turpentine. 

Another Aniline Mahogany Stain is 
made by boiling 2 ounces Bismarck 
brown that is soluble in water in one 

page one hundred and six 



ARCHITECTVRAJ; 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

gallon of water, until the brown has 
dissolved. Let cool and strain it. For 
use, warm it and add to each half gal- 
lon one gill ammonia and one-half gill 
turpentine. 

Still Another Mahogany Stain may 

be made from a mixture of rose pink, 
burnt sienna and a trifle of red lake, 
that are ground fine in water, the pro- 
portions varying as to the strength of 
the color. Four pounds burnt sienna, 
3 4 pound rose pink and % pound ali- 
zarine red lake ground in water and 
thinned with stale beer or ale, will 
make a stain that will not perceptibly 
raise the grain of the wood. 

Walnut Stain may be made by dis- 
solving catechu that is bruised by boil- 
ing it in twice its bulk of water. To 
darken it, add an ounce of bichromate 
of potash to each quart of the liquid. 
Apply warm, adding to each gallon of 
stain one-half pint ammonia and one- 
quarter pint turpentine. 

Another Walnut Stain is made by boil- 
ing one pound Van Dyke brown and 
one-half pound potash or concentrated 
lye in one gallon of water until reduced 
to one-half gallon liquid. While still 
hot, but away from the fire or water 
bath, stir in one-half pint of turpen- 
tine, and when cold apply with fiber 
brush or a piece of cloth. 

page one hundred and seven 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDVSOOO 

FINISHING 

A Light Stain to imitate Walnut or 
Dark Oak may be made by dissolving 
one-quarter pound permanganate of 
potash in one-half gallon of water, and 
while hot add one gill of turpentine to 
this quantity. 

The Best Walnut Stain we know of, 
however, is made by dissolving in one 
gallon of water two pounds of soluble 
Van Dyke brown, by boiling and add- 
ing, while hot, one gill ammonia and 
one gill turpentine. This stain is best 
used while fairly warm, but may be ap- 
plied cold also. 

Rosewood Stain.. One quart of the 
last named walnut stain mixed with 
two or three quarts of mahogany stain 
will give a fair imitation of rosewood, 
or repeated coats of mahogany stain, 
penciled in with ebony stain in a skilled 
manner, will produce the erratic vein- 
ing of rosewood. 

Ebony Stain is produced from 6 
ounces Nigrosen Black B, soluble, and 
10 ounces soluble Van Dyke Brown, 
dissolved in one gallon boiling water, 
to which one gill of ammonia and one 
gill turpentine have been added. Ap- 
ply fairly warm. 

A Very Strong Ebony Stain is made 
by boiling on a slow fire for three hours 
2 pounds logwood extract, green cop- 

page one hundred and eight 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

peras one-half pound, one-quarter 
pound nutgalls, 2 ounces Chinese blue, 
with one gallon of vinegar. May be 
applied either hot or cold. In this 
operation the grain of the wood will 
raise if the wood is of the soft variety. 
For staining in the new fad effects 
any one of the soluble coal tar colors 
will answer, if dissolved in water, as 
directed by the color manufacturers, 
and many combinations can be made. 
Wherever alkali or even acid is pres- 
ent in the stains, it is best to add a 
small portion of turpentine, because 
this medium will prevent or overcome 
the raising of the grain. As, however, 
the. slight emulsion effected between 
the turpentine and ammonia or potash 
is but very short-lived, it is necessary 
to stir the stain constantly during ap- 
plication. 

It has been proposed, in order to 
overcome the raising of the grain of 
the Avood, to make the water stains 
with strong glue size, one part glue to 
six parts water, but a trial will soon 
convince anyone that though the grain 
is not raised the stain does not pene- 
trate and is more like paint, merely 
lying as a film on the surface, while in 
all staining on wood, in order to not 
obscure the natural beauty of the 
grain, that part of the stain which is 
not absorbed by the wood is to be 

page one hundred and nine 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

wiped off before the stain becomes set 
hard. And in water stains this is even 
more important than it is in oil stains, 
because the former are naturally more 
opaque on drying. It is hardly neces- 
sary to say that in staining woods 
with water stain, as well as in the 
case of oil stains, the surface, on dry- 
ing, should be lightly sandpapered and 
thoroughly dusted before varnishing. 

The following answer to the question 
is written by an expert hardwood fin- 
isher of many years' experience: 

To prevent the raising of the wood 
fiber in the process of water staining 
is, and will be for some time, an im- 
possibility, and if such a process were 
possible and the writer should be the 
lucky possessor of its secrets, he, no 
doubt, could dispose of it at a very high 
figure. Although having had consid- 
erable experience in hardwood finish- 
ing and being of an inventive disposi- 
tion, having invented several seeming- 
ly impossible necessities in the paint- 
ers and wood finishers' specialty line, 
[ am not in a position to advance an 
idea to fully cope with the situation, 
but will try to give a few hints in that 
direction. 

Any porous substance which absorbs 
moisture will expand in the process of 
taking up the moisture, except when 
this substance belongs to the mineral 

page one hundred and ten 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

world, but even among minerals there 
are some materials which have an ex- 
panding tendency, but there is hardly 
a vegetable or animal substance known 
which will resist the invasion of mois- 
ture without adding to its own volume. 
Sponges and kindred materials show 
this to the greatest extent, and wood 
is very similar to a solid grown sponge 
with a finer and harder texture. The 
ewelling up of the wood, by treating 
it with water, is more distinctive in the 
softer kinds of wood, and these woods 
show less stability and a shorter life, 
growing faster and dying out sooner 
than the harder species. Considering 
the age of poplar, birch, cherry, elm, 
spruce, pine, etc., against the harder 
and tougher specimens of the oaks, 
mahoganies, maples, etc., which re- 
quire years and years to grow and of 
which we have specimens of hundreds 
and probably thousands of years of 
age. The texture of fiber of those lat- 
ter kinds of wood is much finer and 
harder and more able to resist the ac- 
tion against moisture to a greater ex- 
tent than the former. They show a 
greater tendency to petrify, and in that 
state are entirely indifferent to mois- 
ture. Therefore, if an effective rem- 
edy is to be created to prevent the rais- 
ing of the fiber or the swelling up of 
the wood it must be done more on the 

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ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

lines of petrifying, or at least of hard- 
ening - , of the wood to be stained than 
by trying to find the remedy in the 
preparation of the stain itself. 

There are, of course, methods and 
materials of staining wood almost as 
intense and as deeply penetrating as 
water stain, but those staining prep- 
arations are either not commonly 
enough used or they are considered 
too expensive or too dangerous to 
health or are so inflammable that their 
use is objectionable. To this class of 
staining materials or carriers belong 
the coal and pine tar products or dis- 
tillations of numerous materials which 
are in the market in the form of tur- 
pentine, benzine, naphtha, benzoles 
toluols, dead oils, etc., but the question 
was raised about water stains, and 
therefore it is unnecessary to try to go 
into details about the others. 

Now, if we could effectively prevent 
the moisture from affecting the wood 
fibers we would, at the same time, 
solve the problem of keeping paint and 
varnish on outside woodwork for an 
unlimited time, which would keep the 
painter and wood finisher out of work 
much longer than they are at present. 

The only probable and visible prac- 
tical process of using water stains with 
the least possible chance of affecting 
the wood is, until further develop- 
ed^ e one hundred and twelve 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

ments, in the treatment of the wood 
itself and in the preparing of staining 
materials. In preparing the wood the 
finisher has to take into consideration 
the nature of the wood itself, as sappy 
or pitchy wood will stand a more 
severe and entirely different treatment 
than woods which contain acids and 
change their own natural color very 
readily, thereby also changing their 
natural appearance. Furthermore, the 
staining ingredients have to be consid- 
ered and also the after finishing ma- 
terials, as both are liable to be affected 
by the chemicals which may have to 
be used, either before staining or in 
the preparation of the stain. In chap- 
ters III. and IV. the reader will find 
various points in regard to stains and 
their preparation and uses, and there 
is little to be added, as the expert fin- 
isher is thrown back upon his own re- 
sources, because the work is so mani- 
fold that it is an impossibility for any 
one to describe any and all methods, 
since every finisher has his own indi- 
vidual ideas and generally keeps val- 
uable points for himself, with the 
conceited satisfaction that he is 
smarter and more able to turn out a 
better job than his brother mechanic. 
Coming back to the question itself, it 
is a fact that fuming hardwood, with 
the aid of ammonia, does not raise the 

page one hundred and thirteen 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

fiber of the wood and produces a beau- 
tiful dark or antique effect. Of course 
this process cannot be used on pitchy 
or sappy woods or, in general, upon 
those kinds of wood which do not con- 
tain tannin or tannic acid. It also 
cannot be used on a standing finish 
which is already in position. The 
articles or chemicals most commonly 
used to prevent the raising of the fiber 
are alum and creosote or carbolic acid, 
of which the latter two are the most 
effective but the least practical. Alum 
can be used either by sponging or 
brushing the surface with a solution of 
about one pound to the gallon of wa- 
ter, before or after staining, or the 
powdered alum can be mixed with the 
stain, providing the stain does not con- 
tain ingredients which will not mix 
with the alum. This is about the best 
method known and will help consider- 
ably, but does not entirely prevent the 
trouble. 

Creosote or carbolic acid may be 
used in the same way as alum, but they 
both are harmful to the hands and re- 
quire great care in using. Their 
strong odor is objectionable, and they 
generally will leave after-effects on 
varnish used over them, because they 
are the only acids known to chemistry 
which cannot be killed or neutralized, 
that is, the action of the acid cannot be 

page one hundred and fourteen 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

stopped and will last for a considerable 
time, even in the diluted state they are 
used in. The addition of castor oil or 
glycerin to the stain is often resorted 
to, but these are not recommended, as 
they are non-drying. To use linseed 
oil would require a saponification 
process which can only be accom- 
plished with the addition of alkalines, 
but this mixture will not penetrate suf- 
ficiently. Summing up the whole ques- 
tion, it must be admitted that up to 
now nothing is known which will rem- 
edy the trouble. Why not, therefore, 
use stain made with benzoles or other 
carbon products? A little experiment- 
ing on the part of both the finisher and 
the manufacturer will, no doubt, with 
the aid of chemistry, bring relief and 
perfection. If the members of the craft 
generally would be generous enough to 
give some points, known only to them- 
selves, for the benefit of the trade, 
some real progress might be made 
along this line. 



page one hundred mid fifteen 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 



Index. 

A 

Acid and alkali stains 18 

picric, for staining 19 

sulphuric, for staining 19 

Adulteration of. shellac 44 

Alcohol stains 16 

Alkali and acid stains 18 

removers 85 

how to use 90 

Alum 114 

as a mordant for stains 18 

for staining 19 

American walnut 9 

Ammonia, for staining 19, 20, 24 

Amyl acetate 86 

Aniline stains 16, 25 

mahogany stain 106 

Antique effect for oak and other woods. . . 23 

mahogany 33 

oak 22, 23 

oak filler 32 

Ash 9 

dark, with greenish cast 33 

Hungarian 9 

B 

Bagging for rubbing paste filler 36 

Bichromate of potassium for stain- 
ing 19, 25, 26 

Birch, straight and curly 9 

Bird's eye maple 9 

Bismarck brown 25 

Bi-sulphide of carbon 87 

Black metallic stain 27 

Bleaching, care required 95 

shellac 43 

wood 91 

page one hundred and sixteen 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

Bloom of varnish, to remove 101 

Brazil wood 16 

Bright mahogany 33 

Brown stain 25 

Brushes for varnishing 53 

how to use 99 

Brush keeper 52 

Brushes to use for water stains 17 



Campeachy wood 16 

Canewood 16 

Carbolic acid 86, 114 

Carbon bi-sulphide 87 

effect on the system 89 

Castor oil; to prevent raising fiber of wood 17 

Catechu 23 

Caustic soda for staining 19 

Cherry 9 

stain 106 

Chromate of potassium for staining 19 

Coal tar stains 109 

Coffee for staining 24 

Colored wood fillers 32 

Copperas for staining 19 

green, as a mordant for stains 18 

Cracking of varnish 57 

Creosote 86, 114 

Curly birch 9 

walnut 9 

Cypress 10 



D 



Dark golden oak, filler for 83 

oak stain 105 

Dead finish 63 

Dipping in stain 17 

Driers for oil stains 22 

page one hundred and seventeen 



ARCHITECTURAL 

IIARDVSOOD 

FINISHING 

E 

Ebony, filler for 34 

stain 108 

Egg shell gloss finish 60 

Excelsior for rubbing paste filler 36 

F 

Felt for rubbing 61 

Fiber of wood; to prevent raising 16 

Filler for antique mahogany 33 

for antique oak 32 

for dark golden oak 33 

for ebony 34 

for Flemish oak 33 

for golden oak 32 

for mahogany 33 

for walnut 33 

Fillers 28 

colored 32 

formula for liquid 40 

liquid 39 

paste, how to use 35 

properties of 30 

test for 28 

Finish, wax 68 

Finishing fireproofed wood 77 

piano 97 

Fireproofed wood, to finish 77 

First coaters 39 

linseed oil 48 

varnishes 50 

Flat finish 63, 64 

how to make 65 

Flemish oak 20 

filler for 33 

Floor finishing 73 

Floors, French style 75 

Flowing coat 66 

Forest green 33 

French style floors 75 

French walnut 9 

Fuming 20, 113 

page one hundred and eighteen 



A RCHITECTVRAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 



G 



Glycerin; to prevent raising fiber of wood 17 

Golden oak 19 

dark, filler for 33 

filler for 32 

Green, forest 33 

stain 26 

Ground glass for wood fillers 30 

H 

Hard woods 8 

Hungarian ask 9 

I 

Iodine for staining 19 

L 

Lakes 16 

Lake stains 26 

Leveling coat 101 

Light stain 108 

oak stain 105 

Lima wood 16 

Lime for staining 19. 24 

stains 24 

Linseed oil as first coater 48 

Liquid fillers 39 

formula for 40 

Liquid removers 92 

Logwood 16 

for staining 27 

M 

Mahogany 9 

antique 33 

bright 33 

filler 33 

stain 106, 107 

white 9 

Maple 9 

bird's eye 9 

page one hundred and ninetzen 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

Materials for one coat finishing 69 

used in the manufacture of re- 
movers 90 

Metallic black stain 27 

Mordants 18 

Muriatic acid as a bleacher 92 

N 

Neutral removers 86, 92 

Nitric acid as a bleacher 92 

North Carolina pine 10 

o 

Oak 8 

antique, filler 32 

dark 8 

dark golden, filler for 33 

dark, with greenish cast 33 

golden 19, 22, 24 

filler for 32 

Flemish 20 

filler for 33 

quartered 8 

red 8 

stain 105 

white 8 

XVI. century 24 

Oil and varnish stains 20 

Oil for rubbing 63 

Oil, linseed, as first coater 48 

Old varnished surfaces, to refinish 85 

Old work, to touch up 83 

One-coat finish 68 

Orange shellac 42 

Other materials used in the manufacture 

of removers 90 

Other than one coat finishes 71 

Oxalic acid as a bleacher 92 

P 

Paste filler for close grained wood 38 

how to use 35 

two coats 37 

Pearl-ash for staining 19 

page one hundred and twenty 



ARCHITECTURE 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

Permanganate of potassium for staining. . 25 

Piano finishing 97 

Pick for cleaning corners 37 

Picric acid for staining 19 

Pine 10 

white 10 

yellow 10 

Plane marks, to remove 11 

Polishing 60 

varnished surfaces 66 

Poplar 10 

Potash for staining 19 

Potassium, chromate and bichromate, for 

staining 19, 26 

permanganate for staining 25 

Preparation of stains 23 

Preparing the wood 11 

Prima vera or white mahogany 9 

Primers 39 

Properties of fillers 30 

Pumice stone 41, 61 

R 

Raising fiber of wood, to prevent 16, 109 

Redwood 9 

Refinishing 83 

old varnished surfaces 85 

Remedies to prevent damage to finish by 

fireproofing material 79 

Rosewood 10 

filler for 33 

stain 108 

Rotten stone for polishing 67 

Rubbing and polishing 60 

Rubbing Felt 61 

pumice for 14 

s 

Sandalwood 16 

Sandpaper, to cut 12 

Sandpapering 11, 12 

Sandstone for rubbing 14 

page one hundred and twenty-one 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

Sapan wood 16 

Scraper 11 

Scraping 11 

Semi-paste varnish removers 82, 93 

Sharpening scraper 11 

Shavings for rubbing paste filler 36 

Shellac 41 

adulteration 44 

bleaching 43 

grain alcohol vs. wood alcohol 45 

how to use 46 

objections to 47 

orange 42 

substitutes 48 

testing 44 

thinning 46 

under wax 72 

Silex 30 

Soda for staining 19 

Soft sandstone 14 

Soft woods 8 

Spirit stains 16 

Stain, cherry 106 

ebony 108 

green 26 

light to imitate oak or walnut 108 

mahogany 106, 107 

metallic black 27 

oak 105 

rich brown 25 

rosewood 108 

walnut 107, 108 

Stains and staining 15 

Stains, dipping 17 

new fad effects 109 

oil and varnish 20 

preparation of 23 

reason for two coats 18 

spirit or alcohol 16 

varieties of 15 

vegetable 16 

water 15 

best method for using 103 

page one hundred and tiventy-two 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 

Steel wool 12 

to test quality of 13 

Sulphuric acid as a bleacher 92 

for staining 19 

Sycamore 10 

T 

Temperature for applying varnish 55 

of varnishing room 99 

Test for wood fillers 28 

Testing shellac 44 

varnish 56 

Thinning varnish 54 

Tools used for varnishing 51 

Touching up old work 83 

Turpentine shellac 48 



V 

Varnish cracking 57 

removers, alkali, how to use 90 

liquid 92 

materials used in the manu- 
facture of 90 

neutral 86 

semi-paste 92, 93 

with an alkali base 85 

stains 20, 22, 27 

temperature for applying 55 

testing 56 

to thin 54 

Varnished surfaces, to polish 66 

Varnishes as first coaters 50 

use of 54 

Varnishing 51 

a piano 98 

floors 73 

Venice turpentine in shellac 44 

Vinegar 91 

for staining 19 

page one hundred and twenty-three 



ARCHITECTURAL 

HARDWOOD 

FINISHING 



W 



Walnut 9 

American 9 

filler for 33 

French 9 

peels for staining 24 

South Russian or curly 9 

stain 107, 108 

to imitate 27 

Water stains 15 

best method for using 103 

kind of brushes to use 17 

mixed with anilines 16 

Water rubbing 63 

Wax finishes 71 

finishing 68 

in flat finishes 64, 65 

Waxing floors 74 

White mahogany 9 

pine 10 

debarred from water or alco- 
hol staining 17 

Whitewood 10 

debarred from water or alcohol 

stains 17 

Wood alcohol, poisonous 45, 67 

Wood bleaching 91 

Wood fillers 28 

colored 32 

properties of 30 

test for 28 

Wood, preparing 11 

Woods, hard 8 

soft 8 

used 8 

X 

XVI. century oak 24 

Y 

Yellow pine 10 

page one hundred and twenty-four 



Try "Chinese Shellac " — It cures all ills, 
All stains it makes harmless, all knots it kills* 

The Greatest Invention of the Age ! 

With every Painter it is the rage ! 



Absolutely prevents sap from oozing 

through and discoloring paint. 

Stops suction and fills ail pores. 



Kills Knots aii€i Stains. 

A Perfect First Coaler. 

Dries quicker than Alcohol Shellac. 

Thins with Benzine. 

Try it, nnzi you will praise it as 
warmly as ail others do. 



A long felt want satisfied. 




DRIES FLAT AND SMOOTH AND REQUIRES NO SANDPAPERING. 



Ask your dealer for it, and if he does not keep it, send direct to the 
manufacturers. 

EMIL CALMAN & CO. 



299 Pearl Street 

NEW YORK 



239 E. Randolph Street 
CHICAGO, ILL. 



OVER half a CENTURY in the PAINT and 

VARNISH business has given us an 



! EXPERIENCE in METHODS, MATERIAL 

and APPLIANCES for the manufacture cf 

PAINTS and VARNISHES, together with our 

large output, an advantage over all others in 
l 

\ furnishing- quality and prices in these lines* 



i 



We csfil etterstion to our 

ELASTIC SPAR Superior durability for exterior work. 

MAP'Hf* ^AR The best thin? Tor work exposed con tin u 
Ka.HuiHS. «i «n ously to moisture and weather. 

mQTAI QD A D Superior for interior rubbing and polishing 
3 AL Oran or ^ard gloss finish. 

NOMAR INTERIOB l h * k most durabl ° finish for interior 

HHMIR F! fiHR FSMKM Superior for all kinds of floors 
HUiYiMil rLUwrt ration or Larci usa ge of any kind. 

HOUSE PAINTERS SHELLAO ESMSEF and 
HOHAR WOOD STAINS ^SffSSliSHSSf^SSr 1 
SUPERIOR OOAflH JAPAN SgyFy&ESSH! 

PHRF Hf! Pfl! HR^ Superior in fineness, shade, tone and 

PORE LfiSEED OIL PAINTS ^ e de best and mo8t durable 



JOHN W. MASURY & SON 

NEW YORK &ri€i CHICAGO 



The Finishing ©2 a Building 

One of the most important things in making a natural finish 
on wood work is the filler used. If something inferior is used for 
the foundation, the finish will not hold up permanently but sink or 
pit and also will have a cloudy effect and mar the natural beauty 
of the wood. If the WHEELER WOOD FILLER is used, 
which has been the standard for many years, the finish will remain 
intact indefinitely, and the full life and beauty of the wood will be 
developed. If stained results are desired, use Breinig's Oil and 
Water Stains, which are unequalled for durability and economy. 

Upon application we cheerfully 
furnish finished samples of woods, 
showing some of our leading results. 

TIE BRIDGEPORT WOOD fl8I« CO. 

New Mil ford, Connecticut 
70 W. Lake Street, Chicago 

55 Fulton Street, New York 
41-3 8. 3d Street, Philadelphia 

We have opened sample display rooms at 
H, the following aid;essrs, where we would be 
P pleased to see architects, painters, contractors, 
builders, property owners, and all interested 
In painting and wood finishing, New York, 9 Arcade Metropolitan Lite Building; 
Philadelphia. 8 Mint Arcade: Boston, 6& Cornhill. 




AD-EL-ITE ONE-COAT DULL FINISHES 

are being rpecifiel by the le di"g f rchitects throughout 
the country. They were used in the 



of Charles M. Schwab, New fork City. 

Ad-el-ite One-Coat E>uS! Finishes are made in eight popular 
mission shades. They are as durable as the wood itself. Only one coat is 
needed and one gallon will cover 1000 square feet of surface. 

They Give Beautiful Subdued Effects That No ether Stain Will Produce. 



Ad-el-ite Paint and Varnish Remover 

(G7je Original and Most Economical.) 

Takes off all old pa ; nt, varnish or shellac almost instantly. Easily 
applied. Do.s not Injure the finest veneer or raise the grain. Makes perfect 
refinishing possible. 

We make all kinds, every known shade, of high grade Fillers and Ptains. 
The most complete line of highest quality finishing supplies in the world. All 
kinds of Paints and Paint specialties. 

Send for Free ADARflS & ELTING CO., Chicago 

Samples and Catalogue. Bhe Ad*eUite People. 




YOU OS E 

Varnishes— Shellacs— Fillers- Japans 
W E S U P PLY 

AMBERLENE— For Inside Finish on Fire-proof Trims, 
BPAUANTENE - For Exterior Finish. Best against exposure. 
GIBRALTE3 FLOOR FINISH— Everlastingly durable. 

Then we manf actnre a special line of Oil Stains for producing 
hard wood effects on soft wood. Also Fillers in both Paste and 
Liquid, Shellacs and Shellac Substitutes. 

THE PALMER=PRICE COMPANY, Newark, N. J., 0. S. A. 



APR 13 1906 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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